BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A major milestone for Buffalo Water customers — a truckload of fluoride was delivered to the Colonel Ward pumping station.
Buffalo Water Board Chairman OJ McFoy and Peter Merlow, principal engineer for the City of Buffalo Division of Water, announced the arrival Monday morning.
"We will be reintroducing fluoride tomorrow morning with everybody on site to make sure we are doing it nice and slowly," McFoy said.
Buffalo's drinking water has been without fluoride for nearly a decade. Over the weekend, the Erie County Department of Health approved the fluoridation process.
"We've been moving very quickly as committed to the public on this but doing this in a very safe and procedural and methodic fashion," Merlow said.
Last year, we told you fluoride was taken out in 2015 for system upgrades. McFoy said the buffalo water board used a powder fluoride and wanted to make the switch to liquid.
"When we were making that switch back then there's a lot of things going on namely with other cities changing their treatment and having public health atrocities and so we never in no time did we want that to happen here in Buffalo so we have done our due diligence," he said.
Buffalo Water will reintroduce fluoride beginning Tuesday starting with a low dose and taking a few months to reach a higher dose. Merlow said customers will not notice a difference in taste or smell.
"We're doing this in a systematic fashion and we're doing it over time per the health department recommendations and to make sure we never overdosed," Merlow said.
But this switch from powder to liquid is not happening without controversy.
Buffalo parents have filed a class action lawsuit claiming the constitutional rights of citizens have been violated by depriving them of fluoride.
Doctors also spoke out at Common Council meetings demanding the mineral be restored.
Dr. Marcelo Araujo the dean of the University at Buffalo's School of Dental Medicine said fluoride prevents tooth decay.
"Fluoride is actually one of the biggest innovations that was brought into dentistry for years now," he said. "I think the move to bring fluoride into the water in Buffalo is a great one. I think what we see is in terms of equity and bringing health to our population, this will have a very positive impact."
