Padre Dam’s oft-delayed
implementation tabled
until December

By Nick Peligrino
The Alpine Sun

     Residents in Ramona are still dealing with households without safe drinking water due to damage to the Ramona Municipal Water District pumping station caused by recent wildfires.
     However, many areas of East County could face a more serious situation with greater long-term ramifications.
The question is: How safe will be drinking water be after the process of fluoridation begins?
     Delayed three times, the state-mandated order to add fluoride to all California public water systems was set for the Padre Dam Municipal Water District on Monday, Nov. 5. Yet, it may be another month before implementation by Padre Dam, which supplies water, wastewater, recycled water and recreation services to more than 125,000 residents in Santee, El Cajon, Lakeside, Flinn Springs, Harbison Canyon, Blossom Valley, Alpine, Crest and the Dehesa Valley.
     “The retrofit at the Skinner Treatment Plant still isn’t completed,” said Mike Uhrhammer, communications director for Padre Dam. “So the fluoride project has been put back until Dec. 3.”
     The retrofit is a $5.5 million project to allow upwards of five treatment plants to introduce fluoride, with the Skinner plant, located east of Temecula in Riverside County, the final phase in the construction.
     The water is transported by pipeline to the San Diego Water Authority and the Helix Water District, the agencies which are suppliers for all water to Padre Dam.
     “This is a key point for our critics,” said Uhrhammer. “Neither Padre Dam nor our customers had the right to vote on the fluoridation of our water supply.”
     In 1995, Governor Pete Wilson signed a bill for all public water suppliers in California with at least 10,000 customers to fluoridate the water supply, conditional upon receiving the funding to do so. Public health officials from the six Southern California counties lobbied the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which adopted a fluoridation policy in February 2003, with the California Dental Association Foundation later providing grant money for the retrofit.
     The additional delay could allow those opposed to fluoridation more time to take legal action.
     Padre Dam officials recently received a letter from Citizens For Safe Drinking Water, which could be “a precursor to legal action ... we’ll wait and see,” Uhrhammer added.
     A similar lawsuit against the city of Escondido challenged fluoride implementation in 2001, citing that mass fluoridation “presents a reasonable certainty of harm” to residents, but the effort failed.

The story of fluoridation
     The introduction of fluoride into public water systems has been debated since the process began in the 1960s, with San Diego becoming the last major population center in the United States to add the compound.
     Fluoride, the ionic form of fluorine, comes in several organic and inorganic variations, including a natural calcium form found in ground water and some foods.
     People are most familiar with a sodium-based formulation, which is found in toothpaste and other oral hygiene products.
     Health officials credit fluoride with the lowering of tooth decay, noting studies which indicate a decline of more than 12 percent of children with cavities.
     Conversely, opponents note that fluoride is only helpful as a topical treatment for teeth. They also note several major health concerns, including a weakening of bone strength, which could lead to bone cancer, plus brain and kidney disorders. Even containers of toothpaste list a warning label.
     However, many of those studies only show problems with fluoride at high concentration levels, while those used in public water systems generally range from 0.7 to 1.2 milograms per liter – Padre Dam expects its water to target at approximately 0.8; most ground water in San Diego County possesses a 0.2 concentration.
     While fluoridation flourishes in this country, most European countries now ban the practice, so just what is an acceptable amount against the risks of fluoride.

Pro fluoride
     The American Dental Association credits fluoridation with the reduction of tooth decay, which is considers the most chronic – and preventable – disease in children aged five to 17.
     Plus, the chemical doesn’t change the taste, smell or appearance of water.
     ADA studies show upwards of a 40-percent reduction in tooth decay in communities with fluoridation of drinking water, which is backed by such groups as the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association.
     Still, water customers are asked to consult their doctor or dentist about the use of fluoride water in infants, including in baby formula. The ADA even published a November 2006 article on its website about safe use of fluoridated water.
     Nearly all state that fluoride is safe at low-to-moderate levels.

Con fluoride
     Public advocacy groups such as Fluoride Alert and Fluoride Action Network, claim health risks associated with even low-to-moderate doses of fluoride include: bone fractures; bone cancer, joint pain; skin rash, reduced thyroid activity and IQ deficits.
     In addition, they note a study by the American Dental Association stating that children under 12 months of age should not receive infant formula made with fluoridated water.
     Babies exposed to fluoridated water are at high risk of developing dental fluorosis, a tooth defect caused by fluoride-induced cell damage within the teeth
     Even a group of New England doctors, named Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, warns about adverse impacts on the developing brain. They admit no final conclusions may be reached from available data, yet “the findings are provocative and of significant health concern.”

Solutions
     Anti-fluoridation groups state that only reverse osmosis and activated alumina filtering systems work to remove fluoride, or you can distill your water. You can also switch to a non-fluoridated toothpaste.
     However, no matter which side of the fluoride debate you’re on, one local company has a solution for all parties.
     “We sell water both with and without fluoride,” said Jeff Bickford, sales and distribution manager of Santee based PureFlo water. “And we’ve been doing so for several years.”