Good afternoon, Joe, and thank you for your question about the fluoride test we carry. The National Testing Laboratories test package for fluoride comes with sample collection and mailing supplies for a single water sample. Therefore, you would need one test kit for each sample that you wish to test.

Thank you for your inquiry, Eddie, and congratulations to you and your wife on the new baby!

As for whether or not you can use your public water supply to dilute your child’s formula, that all depends on the amount of fluoride that your water treatment plant adds to the water it distributes.

We have read that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a recommendation against using undiluted water sources that contain fluoride concentrations at or above 0.7 mg/L (ppm) to make formula for infants 6 months of age or younger.

While fluoride does play a role in the development of healthy of a child, too much of a good thing can cause problems… like a condition known as ‘mild dental fluorosis’. Experts in the field describe dental fluorosis as visible changes to the enamel surface of the teeth.

Examples of dental fluorosis include:

• Very mild and mild forms of dental fluorosis — Teeth have scattered white flecks, occasional white spots, frosty edges, or fine, lacy chalk-like lines. These changes are barely noticeable and difficult to see except by a dental health care professional.
   
• Moderate and severe forms of dental fluorosis — Teeth have larger white spots and, in the rare, severe form, rough, pitted surfaces. ( source )

At this time the CDC states that symptoms of dental fluorosis develop only in the teeth of children 8 years old and younger and only before the teeth emerge through the gumline.

Why does dental fluorosis affect young children?

Scientists and health experts hypothesize that since a child drinks a lot more fluids (formula & water) when younger and smaller in size, the amount of fluoride they take in compared to their body mass puts their fluoride per pound level at a much higher concentration.

Think of this this way: If you add 1 gallon of blue dye to 10 gallons of water then the water will turn a dark blue color. This represents a small child consuming ‘normal’ amounts of fluoride. Now add that same 1 gallon of blue dye to 50 gallons of water and the water turns a much lighter shade of blue. This represents an adult or adolescent consuming ‘normal’ amounts of fluoride.

Ways to prevent dental fluorosis

Opponents of public water fluoridation immediately jump up and scream, “Stop adding fluoride to the water supply!” While that sounds like a quick fix, the battle of fluoridation of municipal water supplies has gone on for a long time so we highly doubt that it will end anytime soon — which means some public water supplies will continue to contain fluoride.

Therefore, the CDC suggests using low-fluoride water sources like bottled water when making formula bottles for infants. Check the labels on the bottled water, though, to make certain you use deionized, purified, demineralized, and/or distilled water.

For those not in favor of using bottled water, and we know a lot of folks out there who absolutely despise bottled water, by the way, we have found that a quality reverse osmosis water filter will do an excellent job of lowering fluoride levels in drinking water.

Certain undercounter and countertop water filters also do an excellent job of reducing fluoride levels in drinking water, but make sure the unit you select specifically states that it reduces fluoride levels. Not all undercounter and countertop water filters include a filter cartridge designed to reduce fluoride levels!

For a list of water filters specifically designed to target fluoride concentrations, we suggest you take a look at the Fluoride Filters page on FilterWater.Com

Is your well water safe?

It may look crystal clear, but don’t let that fool you; contaminants could be lurking.

The only way to know for sure if your home’s drinking water is safe is to have it tested.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends having well water tested every year, and the best time to do so is now, in the spring after a few rainy days.

“Unlike public water systems, there are no water quality monitoring requirements for private wells, and many never get tested,” said Scott Kendzierski, director of environmental health services for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan. “It is up to well owners to make sure their drinking water is safe for consumption. Fortunately, it’s easy, quick and inexpensive to test drinking water.”

The local health department offers two types of well water testing kits for a nominal fee. Both kits are available the department’s offices in Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties. The kit, which tests for the presence of E. coli and other bacteria, costs $16; and the kit that tests for fluoride, chloride, hardness, iron, sodium, sulfates and nitrites is $18. These are small prices to pay to assure your family’s drinking water is safe. ( source )

So, for less than $40 residents of Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, and Otsego counties in Michgan can have their water tested for coliform bacteria (including E. Coli), fluoride, chloride, hardness, iron, sodium, sulfates, and nitrites. We consider THAT a really great deal!

OK, but what about everyone else?

If you live close to those counties but not actually in any of them, the article concludes by saying, “For more information about well water testing, visit www.nwhealth.org or call your local health department office.” — and we could not have said it any better than that.

Looking for test kits for home use?

Although all of us at Water Testing Blog highly suggest that private well owners get their water tested annually by a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories or one recommended by your local Health Department, if you would like to test your own well or ground water we can definitely point you in the right direction.

The Water Testing Blog Store carries a variety of useful test kits for home water testing. Below you will find some of the more popular kits we carry:

You will find the full selection of test kits currently available on the Water Testing Blog Store’s Main Page.

Right now we know of only two test kits that the general public can make use of to test the fluoride content of their water: 1) National Testing Labs Fluoride Test Kit (mail-in); 2) eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter (w/ fluoride reagent).

Why test for fluoride?

While many people in positions of authority believe fluoride a great additive for the public water supply, many others see it as a dangerous poison capable of doing massive damage to the population if no one monitors its levels.

Also, some people have severe, and sometimes fatal, allergic reactions to fluoride.

Moral of the story?

No matter what side of the fluoride Great Fluoride Debate you may find yourself, the fact remains that small amounts of fluoride can have beneficial effects on teeth and too much fluoride can harm a person over time.

Therefore, like any other water supply additives that serve a purpose (i.e. chlorine used to disinfect drinking water), we believe its concentration need to stay on the radar of water treatment operators at all times.

For the sake of this article, and because it would make his/her inquiry make more sense, we will assume that Malli intended to ask for a method of testing for FLUORIDE levels in water.

Regretfully we have not heard of any ‘new’ methods a person can use to detect fluoride levels in drinking water since we last addressed this topic. Therefore we will continue to suggest using a meter such as the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter that uses Fluoride (SPADNS) Reagent to detect fluoride levels in water as low as 0.1 ppm and as high as 1.1 ppm.

One could also use the mail-in fluoride testing services of a company called National Testing Laboratories to determine how much, if any fluoride their drinking water contains.

So, Malli, once you determine if your water contains fluoride, next you will need to decide if you wish to remove or reduce that fluoride level… assuming you have fluoride in your water to begin with.

Removing/Reducing Fluoride Levels in Drinking Water?

When it comes to finding an effective means of reducing fluoride levels in drinking water, thus far our ‘research’ always points us down the same path… towards reverse osmosis water filters. The unit you see on the right, the Pentek RO-3500, has gone through testing and gotten certified by NSF/ANSI to Standard 58 for the reduction of Pentavalent Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Copper, Hexavalent & Trivalent Chromium, Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Nitrate/Nitrite, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS and Turbidity.

Though definitely NOT the most expensive unit on the market, this filter has successfully passed third party testing, can produce nearly 8 gallons of crystal clear, filtered drinking water per day, and does so while reducing fluoride levels by more than 90%.

Moral of the story?

You will never know exactly how much fluoride, iron, copper, manganese, chlorine, salt, or other unwanted contaminants your water contains until you perform the appropriate tests on your water. Then, and only then, will you have the ability to make an educated decision regarding water treatment options.

Seemed odd at first (several years ago), but after getting asked the same thing so many times we eventually came to the conclusion that a good number of people really and truly don’t know what questions they ought to have about the quality of their drinking water.

Therefore, for your reading pleasure we will now give a list of the 10 most popular topics on Water Testing Blog for the month of August (2011):

1. Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine and Combined Chlorine
    
2. Testing for Fluoride in Water
    
3. Converting Hardness: Grains per Gallon to Parts per Million
    
4. What is DPD?
    
5. Chlorine Testing: Drinking Water vs. Pool Water
    
6. Simple Chlorine Testing Meter
    
7. Dirty Pool Water Can Make You Very Sick
    
8. Testing for Chlorine in Drinking Water
    
9. Lead in Soil
    
10. Private Well Water and Natural Gas Drilling

In no way does the above list begin to scratch the surface of what curious folks read on our site, but it may help you decide what questions YOU want answered… and if you come up with a question or topic you’d like us to address, send it to us using our submit a comment/question form.

It did, however, kind of shock us that hydraulic fracturing (aka: fracking), a means of extracting natural gas from shale buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface, came in so low on the list given the amount of (bad) publicity hydraulic fracturing has received in the past few years.

We also found it somewhat odd that bacteria in water did not make a single appearance in the list but then again, most folks in the United States have city/municipal water and make the assumption that city/municipal water couldn’t ever contain something as common as bacteria — and that, friends, can sometimes become a dangerous assumption to make!

1. Bill wants to test the fluoride level in his water before it goes into his water filter. As awe have said time and time again, without a baseline scan of your water’s quality you will undoubtedly run the risk of selecting the incorrect tools for cleaning up your water.

2. Then, Bill wants to test the fluoride levels in the water after it leaves his water filter to make sure the filter did its job. Continual monitoring of one’s filtered water quality gives real-time performance data on one’s chosen water improvement device(s).

Enough of our words, though, and let’s here from Bill himself: “I am looking for a fluoride test–I am installing a filter to remove fluoride–and want to know what levelis presecn Please advise–the page on your website says to use the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter but the product description says nothing about it being used for fluoride”

None of us here at Water Testing Blog have control over the content posted on the sites of merchants who sell the eXact Micro 7+ water testing meter… but we can assure you that the meter does have the ability to test for fluoride in drinking water.

As a direct result of your inquiry, Bill, we checked on the meter manufacturer’s web site for the current version of the eXact Micro 7+ water testing meter manual and on page 19 of the document you will find instructions on how to use their meter to test fluoride levels in drinking water.

As of 8/17/11, the date contained in the manual’s file name, the eXact Micro 7+ detects levels of fluoride in water as low as 0.1 ppm and as high as 1.1 ppm. As with any test procedure, use of proper dilution techniques would allow for the quantification of higher fluoride levels if needed.

Keep in mind, though, that the basic eXact Micro 7+ kit does not come with the necessary fluoride reagent strips. You will find those, along with many other optional reagentstrips for testing a bunch of other water quality parameters listed on the eXact Micro 7+ ReagentStrip page.

While attending a birthday party for a young child recently a fellow parent attending the party remarked how the restaurant’s water ‘tasted an awful lot like pool water’ and later ‘that it probably had a ton of fluoride in it, too.’

Several other parents chimed in about the quality of the water of the water at the restaurant and eventually the conversation worked its way around the table until finally some asked if we knew of an inexpensive filter that would remove fluoride and get rid of ‘that nasty chlorine taste’.

Apparently one of our other friends spilled the beans about our interest in water quality at some other gathering we couldn’t attend.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to share a bit of water quality knowledge with an eager audience, we pulled out the laptop (since the restaurant DID have free wireless service… despite its lousy water!) and visited a few sites that we knew carried water filters to reduce fluoride in drinking water.

One noteworthy thing we noticed right away: Although genuinely interested in improving the taste of their water and having the option of whether or not their families consumed fluoride via tap water, few seemed willing to cross the $200 mark for a system. Whether a sign of economic hardship in average families or an indicator that people really don’t care THAT much about the quality of their water, we do not know and we dare not get too involved in topics like that.

At this point we would like to point out that we had more than enough parents in the restaurant watching the kids play in the ball pits, blast aliens on the video games, etc. that our small little group’s conversation did not in any way jeopardize the safety of any children OR result in the disruption of others’ peaceful enjoyment of the establishment.

So… With THAT declaration out of the way, our searches and discussions brought us to the doorsteps of two products that seemed to meet our audience’s needs: the Undersink Fluoride Filter Triple and Pentek RO-3500 Water Filter System.

Both water filter systems claimed to reduce fluoride levels — and on that note we want inform all of you that pretty much NO fluoride filter we came across totally removed fluoride from drinking water — and so we’ll flip a coin to decide which system we discuss first.

* flip * . . . . . Heads. The Crystal Quest Triple Under Sink Water Filter wins.

Cost: Ringing in at the cash register between $173 and $213 depending upon how long you want the multi-stage filter last. You have the option of 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 gallons. Last time we checked, Filter Water had the unit available (with all three third cartridge options to choose from) with free shipping in the Continental United States.

Fluoride Reduction: In this unit’s second filter cartridge, water travels through fine-mesh ‘pre-resin media’ (SIR-900) to reduce fluoride below 0.5 ppm. At the same time, this filter also reduces arsenic levels if present.

Other Contaminants: In the first cartridge water passes through a carbon block which removes and/or removes volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), insecticides & pesticides (such as atrazine and simazine), and a number of industrial solvents commonly found in drinking water. Chlorine taste and odor also get reduced in this stage.

Our ‘Final’ Opinion: If you want a simple under sink water filter system that will do a lot to improve the taste and safety of your drinking water, the Crystal Quest Triple Under Sink Filter stands as a solid contender from what we have read. Well worth taking a look at if you want to keep spending down and still reap the rewards and benefits of a fluoride (and other contaminants) water filter.

In closing we’d like to offer the testimony of an actual Crystal Quest Triple Under Sink Filter user:

On 2/16/2011 ‘Lynn’ said, “The Undersink Fluoride Filter is a grand product. With the filter your water goes through a cleaning series of 8 stages to prevent all the harmful government added substances from entering the body. It comes with 3 cartridges two that need to be replaced every 6 months to a year. The filter was simple to install and works wonderfully! I would recommend this filter to all citizens who want ‘Big Brother’ out of their water.” (on FilterWater.Com web site)

And now we shall discuss the Pentek RO-3500 Water Filter System. . .

Cost: Ringing in at the cash register at either $199 and $259 depending upon whether or not you want an electronic monitoring system keeping an eye on the effluent stream (water treated by your unit), this unit packs quite a punch for the money.

For around $200 or $260 dollars homeowners can get their hands on a reverse osmosis water system certified and tested to NSF/ANSI Standard 58 for the following: Arsenic (Pentavalent) Reduction, Barium Reduction, Cadmium Reduction, Copper Reduction, Chromium (Hexavalent) Reduction, Chromium (Trivalent) Reduction, Cyst Reduction, Fluoride Reduction, Lead Reduction, Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction, Radium 226/228 Reduction, Selenium Reduction, TDS Reduction, Turbidity Reduction, Chlorine Reduction – Aesthetic, and Taste & Odor Reduction.

Fluoride Reduction: As stated in the last paragraph, the Pentek RO-3500 Water Filter System has passed rigorous testing by an independent laboratory proven that it’s fluoride reduction capabilities meet the requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 58.

Other Contaminants: We already discussed how the Pentek RO-3500 has tested and certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 58 for the reduction of a bunch of potentially dangerous and definitely unwanted drinking water contaminants so we won’t bore you with the full list a second time.

Our ‘Final’ Opinion: Before we tell you much we like the benefits this system offers, we do want to mention a few reasons why a reverse osmosis water filter system like the Pentek RO-3500 and others may NOT work well for everyone:

1. Some people feel they waste water since not all of the water that goes into the system will wind up as usable drinking water and gets discharged as waste.
2. The water generated by reverse osmosis systems tends to have an aggressive nature.

3. Reverse osmosis water treatment systems produce ‘flat’ tasting water that some people find a bit unpleasant. Because of that taste many owners of reverse osmosis systems choose to install a simple post-ro re-mineralizing cartridge that adds important minerals for taste and nutrition while also balancing the pH of the water before consumption.

OK, so having said ALL that, we found the Pentek RO-3500’s NSF Certification extremely appealing since it ‘guarantees’ the performance of the unit for at the very least, its ability to reduce concentrations of a known list of contaminants.

“I like the idea of the low maintenance filter you wrote about today, but does it remove fluoride? For the low price I doubt it so does anyone make one that does? Thx andee03”

Well, Andee, it just so happens that Crystal Quest, the manufacturer of the disposable countertop water filter we wrote about recently, does, in fact, make a disposable filter that reduces fluoride levels in drinking water.

They call it the Fluoride Multi PLUS and from what we can tell, it does all the things that the other filter did plus it reduces fluoride levels… without jumping up too much in cost.

Why the concern over fluoride?

Rather than repeat the content from earlier postings about fluoride we will opt to say, “Please refer to Testing for Fluoride in Water since it gives a very good (and short!) explanation of why people have concerns over the presence of fluoride in drinking water.”

Reducing/Removing fluoride from drinking water?

The disposable, zero-maintenance Crystal Quest Countertop Fluoride Filter mentioned above will most certainly help reduce fluoride levels in drinking water, but what if a person wants a filter that offers more robust filtering features?

Why test for fluoride?

While considered ‘safe’ by the USEPA for use as a drinking water additive that helps prevent tooth decay, countries in Europe and other places around the world have outlawed its use because of studies that have shown a correlation between fluoridated water and serious health problems.