In 70% of water supplies across the United States, industrial-grade fluoride is added to drinking water. Most developed nations experience this too. All of Japan’s drinking water is fluoridated, and 97% of western Europe also has fluoride in the water. More and more people are coming out against fluoride in the drinking water. But what’s the big deal? Why should we care?
Fluoride added to water is a mass medication.
All water treatments are geared toward the same thing: treating our drinking water. But fluoride is added for only one purpose: treating YOU. Many nations have begun to reject the practice simply because it’s inappropriate to mass medicate people through water.
Fluoride isn’t particularly effective.
The CDC’s Oral Health Division even acknowledges that there’s no real benefit from topical fluoride contact with teeth, which has been the strongest argument for fluoridation of water. Additionally, 65% of
modern large-scale studies show no consistent or meaningful difference in the cavity rates of fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. So there’s really no need.
Conspiracy theories?
Since fluoride has been added to drinking water, there have been many conspiracy theories about why. Many of them center around mind control. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, conspiracy theorists said it was a Nazi plan to control our minds. From the 1950’s through to the 1990’s, the conspiracy was that it was a Communist plan to control our minds. These days, it’s the government trying to control our minds. We don’t believe anyone is trying to control us. What we do believe is that fluoride in water isn’t needed, largely isn’t wanted, and isn’t terribly safe.
So how do we get fluoride out of the water for good
only one way: lobby your local water supplier to knock it off. Organize in your community. A handful of communities have been successful so far. No reason yours can’t be.
Alright fine. In the meantime, how do we get it out of our water?
First, let’s talk about what doesn’t get fluoride out of your water:
- Most popular water filters like Brita and Pur don’t remove fluoride.
- Boiling water does not remove fluoride!
- Many types of bottled water and other bottled drinks are bottled with water from local taps that contain…wait for it…fluoride! Put the bottle down.
Now, for the systems that actually work:
- Berkey Water Purification System with PF2 Fluoride Filter is a low-tech countertop unit that requires no plumbing. Filters can be cleaned, making it cost effective. It can be used off-grid to treat untreated water from ponds and streams.
- Reverse osmosis systems work, but require electricity and are seriously expensive. Plus it also wastes about 5 gallons of water for every gallon filtered. That’s not going to be good in drought-prone places like the American West.
- Activated alumina is a typically large-scale water treatment which removes excessive fluoride from groundwater. (I live in a place where this is a problem.) It removes more than 90% of fluoride from our water but requires tons of maintenance and gets expensive.
- Or you can make your own solar still. For the adventurous types out there and those mechanically inclined, experimenting with making your own solar distiller can provide an interesting challenge.
Bottled water.
I mentioned it earlier but I think it bears repeating. Bottled water is not a good way to avoid fluoride. Not only that, but it’s terrible for you and the environment. It presents a serious waste problem, and often the water is harvested from communities that can’t spare it, thus adding additional challenges to regional resource management.
