Fluoride ingestion a personal choice, say Oroville councilors
Ingesting fluoride is favored to be a personal choice when it comes to drinking water for Oroville City Councilors. The matter of removing fluoride from city drinking water was before councilors in a public hearing Tuesday, revisiting an issue that Oroville citizens once fought hard to support in the 1950s. Cal Water local manager Loni Lind said the utility will continue fluoridate as long as it’s required to. While Cal Water has met this obligation since 1957, customers regularly express concern for removing fluoride from the water supply, Lind said. Lind said fluoride is much more expensive to remove from water than it is to add it; and that Oroville is the only city in Butte County fluoridating its water — though Chico has applied for public funds to add fluoride to its water supply.