Home water purification systems can benefit you and your family in many ways. Mainly, by improving the taste, odour, and overall quality of the water. They do this by reducing many of the pesky contaminants that make their way through modern plumbing systems and water treatment plants. One of the most well-known impurities that make it through is fluoride. In fact, fluoride is actually added or naturally occurring in most tap water.
To learn more about the fluoride in your drinking water and how to reduce it if you wish, read on.
What Is Fluoride?
Fluoride is a common form of the chemical element fluorine. Fluorine is commonly used by healthcare practitioners and in dental products, including toothpaste and mouthwash. It protects your teeth from the bacteria in plaque, effectively helping you avoid tooth decay.
It’s generally used by dentists and in products that promote oral health. In small doses, fluoride is generally safe to consume.
Why Is It In My Water?
Fluoride can be found in most tap water and bottled water. Fluoride is added to your water in generally small doses to help enhance your oral health. Although many countries have banned fluoride from being added to tap water, in Canada it’s still a common practice. It is added to the water at the municipal government level, but regulated at a federal level.
To find out if fluoride is added to your tap water or is naturally occurring, you can contact your municipality’s water department. There is generally an annual report of water quality that is published and available to residents that you may be able to access.
On the other hand, if you consume rural water or get your water from a well, it will not have fluoride unless it is naturally occurring.
To see if fluoride is in your bottled water, look at the side of the packaging. It should say something like “Fluoride Ion 0.4 PPM”. If it says 0, chances are fluoride has not been added or is not naturally occurring.
The risks of Fluoride in Your Water
Allowing fluoride to flow through your taps is completely up to you. It isn’t known for changing the sight, smell, or taste of your water, so aesthetically there isn’t much reason to remove it.
There are many theories floating around on the Internet and as we mentioned above, countries have banned it from being added to the water. This is mainly due to the fact that once it’s added to your water, there isn’t much of a way to control it or monitor the levels that you’re consuming. For example, a child who is three years old and weighs 30 lbs is consuming the same amount as an adult male who is 45 and weighs 300 lbs.
There have been studies that have shown that excess exposure to fluoride can lead to a lower IQ, arthritis, aches and pains, kidney disease, skeletal fluorosis, and even cancer. However, this is a huge leap away from the small doses that are found in most tap water.
The underlying question remains, do you risk it?
How to Reduce Fluoride from tap Water
If you’d rather play it safe and reduce the Fluoride in your tap water, you can do so by investing in a home water treatment system. Water Depot has a wide selection of systems for sale, including reverse osmosis systems which will reduce the fluoride in your tap water.
For more information about fluoride in water or how to remove it, contact our experts at Water Depot. We have locations throughout Ontario, from Sault Ste. Marie and Parry Sound, all the way to Niagara Falls, Hamilton, Kemptville, and everywhere else in between.
