PUBLIC NOTICE

 

Dear Resident,

 

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that we send you this notice on the level of fluoride in your drinking water. The drinking water in your community has a fluoride concentration of 3.2 milligrams per liter (mg/L) as of August 26, 1993.

 

Federal regulations require that fluoride, which occurs naturally in your water supply, not exceed a concentration of 4.0/L in drinking water. This is an enforceable standard called a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), and has been established to protect the public health. Exposure to drinking water levels above 4.0/L for many years may result in some cases of crippling skeletal fluorosis, which is a serious bone disorder.

 

Federal law also requires that we notify you when monitoring indicates that the fluoride in your drinking water exceeds 2.0 mg/L. This is intended to alert families about dental problems that might affect children under nine years of age. The fluoride concentration of your water exceeds this federal guideline.

 

Fluoride in children’s drinking water at levels of approximately1mg/L reduces the number of dental cavities. However, some children exposed to levels of fluoride greater than 2.0 mg/L may develop dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis, in its moderate and severe forms, is a brown staining and/or pitting of the permanent teeth.

 

Because dental fluorosis occurs only when developing teeth (before they erupt from the gums) are exposed to elevated fluoride levels, households without children are not expected to be affected by this level of fluoride. Families with children under the age of nine are encouraged to seek other sources of drinking water for their children to avoid the possibility of staining and pitting.

 

Treatment systems are commercially available for home use. You can also purchase bottled water and mix the tap water to achieve a 50/50 ratio. Low fluoride bottle drinking water that would meet all standards is also commercially available.