CLEARWATER, Fla. – The city of Clearwater has officially ceased adding fluoride to its drinking water supply, a move mandated by a new statewide law prohibiting the practice. The transition was completed as the city’s water treatment plants depleted their existing fluoride reserves, with Reverse Osmosis Plant 1 running out on May 30th and Reverse Osmosis Plant 2 on June 13th.
Water Treatment Plant 3, which primarily receives its water from Pinellas County Utilities, did not previously fluoridate its water. Pinellas County is also set to discontinue the addition of fluoride by July 1st.
This discontinuation marks the end of Clearwater’s water fluoridation program, which began in June 2019. For five years, the city had added fluoride at a maximum level of 0.7 parts per million, a practice long recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a significant public health achievement in preventing tooth decay…