by Julian Moss
Despite the British Government's official position that the addition of fluoride to the water supply causes no adverse effect to human health, just a positive benefit in the prevention of dental caries, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. There are also many medical experts who feel that the adverse side-effects of fluoride warrant further clinical investigation and should not simply be dismissed.
There have been numerous cases in the past where scientists failed to properly examine possible side effects of a prescribed medication - thalidomide, for example. Even the water companies in England that are forced by the government to add fluoride to the water supply are not 100% sure that it is safe. That's why they require the government to pay them an indemnity against possible future compensation cases.
It is therefore perfectly understandable that people who wish to decide for themselves what to put in their bodies do not wish to have fluoride forced upon them by the government. Unfortunately you can't avoid fluoride by choosing to buy your water supply from a different company. You must either buy bottled water, or install a water filter, at your own expense.
Many people already buy bottled water to drink, often because they don't like the taste of the chlorine that is put in the water to disinfect it. However they still use tap water to make tea and coffee, to boil vegetables and so on. If you wish to avoid consuming fluoride you must not only use fluoride free water in the preparation of all drinks, but also in cooking. (Boiling water actually concentrates the fluoride.) If you use bottled water you will have to buy a considerable number of water bottles every week, incurring considerable expense and inconvenience.
Many people use water filter jugs such as those made by Brita for their drinking water However, these readily available water filters do not remove fluoride from the water, despite what many websites and retailers may state.
One of the most effective types of water filter is the reverse osmosis filter. However most models of this type are designed for high volume or industrial use - they are used in the purification of some brands of bottled water, for example. They are expensive to buy and fit, and are generally unsuited for domestic use. They are so effective that they filter out beneficial minerals and those that give your water its characteristic taste, as well as those you don't want like fluoride and chlorine.
However, there is one fluoride filtration technology that is ideal for home use, and that is activated alumina filtering. One company in the UK, Fountain Filters, manufactures home water filter kits that are both inexpensive to buy and easy to fit. We purchased and installed a Fountain Filters kit and can recommend it. We can now once again enjoy drinkable, fluoride-free water on tap. We are saved the trouble of purchasing, storing and then disposing of large numbers of plastic water bottles. The cost is lower than using bottled water, too.
Fountain Filters makes a range of different water filters suitable for different needs and different parts of the country. If you live in a hard water area (if your kettle is always getting furred up) you might need a hard water filter. In West Cumbria that is not a problem. We ordered the Oyster TF model at a cost, at the time of writing, of £123.90. This includes two filters. The first is an activated carbon TOCS filter which removes trihalomethanes (chlorine based disinfection products), volatile organic chemicals (e.g. pesticides and herbicides) and hormones (e.g. oestrogen and other endocrine disruptors) as well as sediments. The second is the activated alumina filter which specifically removes fluoride.
The kit includes a self-tapping fitting for tapping into the cold water pipe under the sink, the filters themselves, and a drinking water tap that must be fitted next to the sink, plus all the necessary tubing. The picture above shows the drinking water tap after fitting, together with the filters.
The kit is designed for do-it-yourself installation. I am one of the most DIY-challenged people imaginable, yet I can report that I managed to install the filter successfully, though the job was not without its anxious moments. You have to install a tap on the cold water pipe by tightening a nut, which pierces the copper pipe to access the supply and then seals the joint with a rubber gasket. After I had done this, water started dripping from the gasket and I feared we would have to try to find a plumber to come and make a proper connection. But the drips became fewer and after about a day had stopped altogether. The connection is still dry more than a year later. However, it would probably be better to have the filter properly installed by a plumber - if you know of one who could be bothered to come out for such a small job.
After tapping into the water supply, the rest is easy. You must drill a hole of the appropriate diameter in the kitchen worktop so as to mount the drinking water tap, then fix it in place by tightening a nut from below. If you don't like the style of tap included in the basic kit then Fountain Filters offers a range of alternative models at extra cost. We thought the standard one was just fine.
Next you must screw a couple of screws into the back of the under-sink cupboard to hang the filter unit from when it is installed. The filters are quite heavy, so it is probably best to install them so that they stand on the cupboard floor - the screws just prevent the unit from falling over.
All you have to do now is connect filters and taps using the tubing supplied. All the water connectors are push-fit, so there is not much to go wrong there. Then turn on the water supply and see if it works! You will need to run off the first few litres of water as it will feel soapy and have a bit of an unpleasant taste. But after everything has been rinsed out, your new drinking water tap is ready to use.
I drink a lot of this water and I think it tastes great - a lot better in fact than some of the expensive bottled waters. The only place I've tasted better water is from a free-flowing stream half way up one of the Cumbrian fells!
Fountain Filters suggests that when used to supply drinking and cooking water for a family of four, the filters should be changed every six months. Even then, they hint that it is probably possible to extend that period, although they can't recommend that officially. Eventually, the filters will start to get clogged and the water flow will slow to a trickle. With only two of us in the household (but both of us here all day and we don't eat convenience food - my wife Olga believes in proper cooking) we used our original filter set for a whole year.
A replacement filter set for the Oyster TF currently costs £39.95. That would buy you less than 200 litres of bottled water in the local supermarket. You don't need to be a mathematical genius to work out that that's quite a saving, even after the initial cost of the filter kit and tap are factored in.
But the real saving to us is avoiding the hassle of having to load up with bottles of water every time we shop, not to mention finding somewhere to store them in our undersized, storage-cupboard-free house, and then having to get rid of all the empty bottles.
Now, we have pure, sweet and fluoride-free water instantly available on tap. Which is what we should have anyway, were it not for this government's insistence on polluting our pure natural water with an unwanted chemical that we don't even need since we're quite capable of looking after our own teeth, thank you.