Does reverse osmosis remove fluoride from drinking water? The short answer: yes, it does! But what exactly is reverse osmosis?
This brief guide will explore how reverse osmosis water filtration systems remove fluoride from drinking water. We’ll also define what fluoride is and why some people find it beneficial to absorb through their drinking waters, while others are wary about consuming too much fluoride at the risk of developing certain very rare health issues.
So, continue reading to learn more about removing fluoride using reverse osmosis.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is becoming an increasingly popular option for home water filtration systems. An RO filter can remove impurities, contaminants, and unwanted dissolved solids from your unfiltered water.
One method of removing contaminants within freshwater by putting the water under pressure and pushing it through a special filter is called Reverse Osmosis. Mineral contaminants cannot go through the filter, allowing fresh water to leave behind extra substances you don’t want in your drinking water.
This is essentially what happens when you install a Reverse Osmosis filter. The RO filter’s semi-permeable membrane thoroughly filters out contaminants and dissolved minerals like lead, arsenic, iron, mercury, sodium, and, you guessed it, fluoride.
It is a mineral that is found naturally in our bones and teeth as well as air, soil, plants, rocks, freshwater, seawater, and many foods. Fluoride can be added to drinking water supplies, supplements, and dental products.
So, is fluoride bad for you? Fluoride has been added to the country’s public drinking water for decades primarily because it has proven to be a safe, cost-effective way to prevent dental cavities and improve dental health. Fluoride helps to repair tooth enamel damaged by bacteria and can also help reduce the acid in your mouth, thus preventing cavities from forming.
Maintaining good oral health is so important to communities that add fluoride to public water because they recognize that dental hygiene can affect every aspect of one’s life. Fluoride can prevent bacterial infections in the mouth and bone, issues in the circulatory system, nerve damage, and even malnutrition due to the weakening of teeth.
There are critics of fluoridating public drinking water systems who say this is an individual decision that should not be controlled by the city in which you reside. On one hand, too much fluoride can cause dental fluorosis—a kind of tooth damage—or skeletal fluorosis—a weakening of the bones.
Studies show that a fluoride content of .7 parts per million is ideal for proper health benefits. When do these levels start to become hazardous? When the fluoride content of water is at 4.0 parts per million. That means the groundwater would have to have almost 600 times the ideal fluoride content.
Luckily, it’s pretty unlikely you live in an area with exceptionally high fluoride levels in the groundwater. According to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey, most drinking water is actually below the optimal concentration for health benefits.
Quite simply put: it’s amazing for your teeth. Adding fluoride to drinking water systems has been shown to improve the dental health of a population dramatically. That means less costly dental procedures, fewer threats to our health, and improved quality of life across the community.
In fact, researchers had begun making the connection between healthy teeth and fluoride as far back as the 1800s. After Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city to fluoridate (add fluoride) to its public water system in 1945, many cities and towns across the country followed suit, adding this naturally occurring mineral to their own water supplies.
Fluoride has been identified by the CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an effective method of delivering fluoride across the community regardless of age, education, or socioeconomic status. However, some individuals would rather choose their own fluoride levels for their at-home drinking water.
While fluoridating public water systems has been proven to effectively maintain a community’s oral health and prevent cavities, some people would still prefer to control how much fluoride they consume by sticking to dental products containing the mineral, or eating foods that naturally contain fluoride.
If you want to say goodbye to fluoride in your tap water forever, consider installing a home filtration reverse osmosis system.
An RO water filter can remove impurities, contaminants, and unwanted dissolved solids from your unfiltered water—this includes fluoride removal.
At Rayne Water Conditioning, we have top-of-the-line, residential RO filtration systems available in three different units. The Clear system is a basic Reverse Osmosis filter system, the Pure Plus is a four-stage RO water filter system, and the deluxe Eradicator is the most efficient Reverse Osmosis water filter system we have available.
Ready to learn more about how to remove fluoride and other impurities from your drinking water ? Call your local Rayne Water office today.
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 75 Years of Community Water Fluoridation https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/basics/anniversary.htm
Healthline. Fluoride: Good or Bad? https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fluoride-good-or-bad#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2
Rayne Water. Effects of Fluoridated Drinking Water. https://www.raynewater.com/blog/effects-of-fluoridated-drinking-water/
Rayne Water. Residential Reverse Osmosis Systems. https://www.raynewater.com/residential_category/drinking-water-systems/
U.S. Department of the Interior. A Comprehensive Assessment of Fluoride in Groundwater. https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/a-comprehensive-assessment-fluoride-groundwater?qt-news_science_products=1#qt-news_science_products
Medical News Today. Why do we have fluoride in our water? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154164
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