For some people, it’s a glass half full. For others, a glass half empty. 

Fluoride in municipal water systems has long been controversial. Proponents of the mineral added to drinking water say it helps prevent tooth decay, especially in children. Opponents claim it can have harmful long-term effects, including bone health and mental development in kids, and that communities should not be adding what some term “forced medication” to culinary water supplies. 

The latter argument won out as the Utah Legislature passed and Gov. Spencer Cox signed H.B. 81 in March. The bill required that fluoride no longer be added to local water systems in the state by May 7. The state became the first in the nation to impose such a ban.

Officials with the three water districts that supply the resource to the vast majority of West Valley City homes and businesses say the reaction from customers has barely been a drop in the bucket.  

“We really didn’t hear anything from anybody, surprisingly,” said Granger-Hunter Improvement District general manager Jason Helm. “We looked at social media, our website, the phone calls coming in, we just have not had our customers calling in one way or the other. It was actually quite surprising.”  

Helm said messaging was prepared for GHID’s customer service representatives and posted online, but it has largely gone unneeded because of the relative silence on the matter among the district’s 28,000 hookups.                                                                                                                                             Helm noted that water flowing to homes and businesses will never be totally devoid of fluoride because it is a naturally occurring mineral found in groundwater. “We’re removing it, but there’s still going to be fluoride in the water,” Helm said. 

He is curious to see how no fluoride added to the drinking water supply will impact the teeth of children over time. “There’s a lot to unfold and unpack with all of that.”

The Magna Water District provides water to 34,000 customers in Magna and the northwestern part of West Valley City. 

“I only got two emails. I would have anticipated a little bit more,” said general manager Clint Dilley. “I got one resident back in January that really wanted it out of the water. They were convinced it was a health hazard.” After the legislation went into effect, another resident wrote, “Well, what do we do for fluoride now?”

Dilley says he can understand the arguments of fluoride proponents who point to reduced tooth decay. “I think the majority of the water providers would probably agree that there’s research showing there’s some benefit to the younger kids drinking it.” But he added, “It’s hard to justify in our minds a little bit of benefit when most of that water isn’t even being consumed. It’s going toward lawns and it’s going toward dishes.”

Kearns Improvement District also reported that public expression over the fluoride issue ran dry despite media coverage of the matter as it was being debated in the Legislature. “I thought it would stir up some more conversation, but we have had very, very little,” said Greg Anderson, general manager of the water and sewer provider for Kearns and a small portion of West Valley City. He said there was some back and forth in KID’s Facebook page, but not much else. “I’ve had no phone calls or emails,” he said. Anderson said people likely recognized the fluoride ban was the doing of lawmakers and that his and the other water districts were just following the mandate. 

Kearns Improvement District buys 94% of its water from the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, which was responsible for the fluoridation of the water until the ban. Anderson says the remainder of KID’s water is derived from its own wells, which contains natural fluoride from the earth and thus will continue to be present in small amounts. “The way the legislation was written, it can stay,” Anderson said.  

KID has 14,500 homes and businesses connected to its system.  λ