What Is Fluoride in Water? Choose the Right Fluoride Water Filter

People have different thoughts on whether fluoride should be in drinking water, but the issue is often debated. Some view it as a necessary nutrient that can prevent dental cavities, while others view it as an unwanted ingredient that may pose health risks. If you fall into the latter category, one of your top priorities should be learning how to remove fluoride from your tap water.

Fluoride is an element that exists naturally. It aids in tooth protection by decreasing tooth decay and strengthening teeth. It is found naturally in many foods, plants, fresh and salt water, soil, and air.

The process of adding fluoride to public water supplies is referred to as water fluoridation, and its primary purpose is to reduce the prevalence of dental caries (also known as tooth decay) in the local population. Fluoride can help to prevent tooth enamel from degrading since it strengthens it and raises its resistance to acid attacks from oral germs. The fluoridation of water supplies has been acknowledged as a critical measure for the improvement of oral health in communities, irrespective of age, educational attainment, or income level, despite the easy availability of fluoride-containing toothpaste.

Several studies have shown that adding fluoride to drinking water lowers the risk of tooth decay. This effect is consistent with adding fluoride to community water supplies. Numerous dental and health organizations support water fluoridation as a safe, practical, and affordable means of preventing tooth decay in the community.

The compound, in both its natural and synthetic forms, is a secure and reliable method of safeguarding your oral health. When used excessively, though, it can have negative effects such as dental fluorosis, which can discolor and damage your teeth.

Related article: What You Should Know about Fluoride in Drinking Water

The condition develops when teeth develop too much fluoride, changing the tooth enamel’s appearance and leaving teeth with brown stains, white spots, or streaks. Severe instances may result in surface irregularities and pitting.

It is a rare disease that happens when bones build up too much fluoride over time. It can cause stiffness, pain, and fractures in the bones and joints. This condition happens more often in places where the water naturally has a lot of fluoride.

According to certain research, consuming too much fluoride may interfere with thyroid function, resulting in goiter, hypothyroidism, and other thyroid-related problems.

High fluoride exposure has been linked to possible impairments in cognitive function, especially in young children. Fluoride exposure has been associated in some studies with lower IQ scores, though the data is not entirely reliable.

Although fluoride at recommended levels is generally considered safe to consume, you may choose to have it removed from your drinking water for health or personal reasons. And your first thought might be to accomplish this by boiling your tap water. Is this method of removing fluoride really effective?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that the quick response is no. Boiling tap water can get rid of some contaminants, pathogens, and dangerous bacteria, but it does not affect fluoride. The compound in question is stable and does not evaporate when heated to boiling temperatures. Thankfully, there are a few more efficient ways to eliminate fluoride from your water supply if it’s a concern for you.

Reverse osmosis (RO) filtration is regarded as one of the best methods for fluoridated water purification. An RO system is made up of a semi-permeable barrier that traps impurities and lets water molecules pass through. Fluoride ions, dissolved solids, and other contaminants are essentially retained on one side of the RO membrane while purified water accumulates on the opposite side for your use when fluoridated wate r passes through it under pressure.

Water is heated to its boiling point and then vaporized during the distillation process. Because of this, the vapor that is produced rises, leaving behind impurities such as fluoride, and eventually condenses back into a liquid state. The result is extremely pure water that is fluoridated-free.

Although boiling is a step in the process, remember that distillation is a much more effective way to remove fluoride than boiling water. The mineral is unaffected when water evaporates in simple boiling. Fluoride, however, is left behind during the distillation process because it has a boiling point that is noticeably higher than water’s. You will be left with water that does not contain fluoride once the vapor has condensed and returned to a liquid state.

Because fluoride ions and resin beads have a strong affinity for one another, ion exchange is another trustworthy way to reduce your exposure to fluoride. What does this signify? This method involves drawing and binding negatively charged fluoride ions in the water with resin beads that contain positively charged ions. The presence of the mineral is effectively eliminated as the water moves through the resin bed because fluoride ions are swapped for the positively charged ions in the resin. This process is repeated until the resin reaches a point where it is completely saturated with fluoride ions and requires either regeneration or replacement.

With their high adsorption capacity and porous structure, activated carbon filters are another useful tool for lowering the fluoride levels in your water supply. As water passes through this water system, fluoride ions are captured by activated carbon granules. Along with other impurities and pollutants, fluoride ions are drawn to and retained by the activated carbon’s many pores and large surface area. Fluoride ions attach themselves to the carbon as water passes through the filter, lowering the concentration of fluoride.

Carbon filters are widely used by homes and businesses to purify water because of their well-known capacity to target and capture a variety of contaminants.

Ion exchange resins are employed to completely remove all ions from water during deionization, which surpasses ion exchange. In the course of this procedure, water is pumped through a resin bed that is stuffed with ion exchange resins that contain positive as well as negative charged sites. Your drinking water’s fluoride content will eventually drop as fluoride ions from the water are pulled to the resin’s charged sites and exchanged with other ions.

After reading about all of those terrifying medical conditions, you are now interested in finding out whether or not the fluoride levels in your water are high. There are a few different ways to check, though. If you use municipal water, the government or treatment facility will provide you with a free copy of the regional water quality report. However, you will have to take care of it on your own if you use well water.

An electronic device called a fluoride meter is used to determine the amount of fluoride present in water. A detailed tutorial on using a fluoride meter can be found here. Although fluoride meters are unquestionably dependable, their cost is high. Purchasing one for the purpose of checking your water once or twice might not be wise. Testing your water is the most cost-effective option.

Do not use test strips that claim to find fluoride. For fluoride, they are ineffective. To find out the fluoride levels in your water, you should send a sample to a laboratory and request a fluoride test. An all-inclusive water test will reveal everything about your water, not just fluoride, which is an added benefit.

To choose the best whole-house water filter or under-sink filtration system for your family’s health and wellness, you need to know how clean your water is, especially if you have a well network.