News from EMWD

Drinking water fluoridation to begin this October

Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) purchases about 75 percent of its water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). MWD will soon begin to adjust the natural fluoride level in the water by adding fluoride to a level considered “optimal” by health experts to reduce and control tooth decay. MWD’s board first took a serious look at fluoridation in 1995 when Governor Pete Wilson signed a new state law conditionally requiring fluoridation of any public water supply with at least 10,000 customers. Because the law did not provide funding for utilities, many water agencies found the cost of fluoridating prohibitive. Although MWD was exempt from conditions of the law, local public health officials pressed hard for large-scale fluoridation at MWD’s treatment plants, and in February 2003, MWD’s board adopted a policy to add fluoride. In September 2003, the California Dental Association Foundation, in conjunction with the California Fluoridation 2010 Work Group, provided MWD with $5.5 million in grant monies to design and construct fluoridation facilities. MWD will begin fluoridating in October 2007.

For water quality consistency, EMWD will ensure that drinking water from all sources contains this level of fluoride, following recommendations from the California Department of Public Health, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Dental Association. Fluoride levels in drinking water are limited under California state regulations at a maximum dosage of 2 parts per million (ppm). We will remain below the regulation dosage and add only enough fluoride to the water to reach the optimal range of 0.7 to 0.8 ppm.

As a precautionary measure, health care providers have been advised to suspend administration of fluoride supplements to their patients for one year. For additional information about drinking water fluoridation, contact your dentist or doctor.

You may also contact:

• Amy Mora
  Senior Environmental Compliance Analyst, EMWD
  moraa@emwd.org
  (951) 928-3777, ext. 6355

• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  1-800-311-3435
  www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/index.htm

• American Dental Association
  www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/index.asp

• American Water Works Association
  www.awwa.org

• California Department of Health Services (Dept. of Public Health)
  www.dhs.ca.gov

• The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
  www.mwdh2o.com

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EMWD is the freshwater, wastewater service and recycled water provider to a 555-square mile area from Moreno Valley southward along the I-215 corridor to Temecula and eastward to Hemet and San Jacinto. Approximately 630,000 people live and work in this area. In addition to its own water customers, EMWD supplements water to eight local water agencies and municipalities that have their own water departments. EMWD operates four water reclamation facilities and treats some 40 million gallons of wastewater daily. More information can be found at EMWD’s web site www.emwd.org.