CFPUA has resumed adding fluoride to drinking water at its Richardson Water Treatment Plant prior to distribution, effective Tuesday, January 28.
Richardson, which provides water to the second-largest of CFPUA’s three drinking water-distribution systems, serves customers in northern New Hanover County, including Murrayville, Wrightsboro, Porters Neck, and parts of Castle Hayne and Ogden. Its source water comes from groundwater wells.
Fluoridated water is among the “10 great public health achievements of the 20th century,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Drinking fluoridated water keeps teeth strong and reduces cavities (also called tooth decay) by about 25% in children and adults,” the CDC states on its website. “By preventing cavities, community water fluoridation has been shown to save money both for families and for the U.S. health care system.”
The resumption of fluoridation at Richardson follows work to modify the system at Richardson that is used to add fluoride to drinking water and add backup controls.
Unsure where your water comes from? Find out here.
CFPUA ceased fluoridation at Richardson in April 2018 after elevated levels of fluoride were detected in treated water. As a precaution, CFPUA temporarily shut down Richardson and stopped distributing water from the plant for several hours. Normal operations at Richardson resumed later in the day, but without the fluoride feed. Tuesday marks the first time since then that fluoride has been added to treated drinking water at Richardson. CFPUA routinely tests for fluoride in our drinking water to ensure it remains within acceptable concentration ranges.
Water treated at Sweeney Water Treatment Plant, which provides 80 percent of CFPUA’s drinking water, has continued to be fluoridated.