PORT ANGELES — More than three years after a campaign to fluoridate the city’s water supply was begun, fluoridation is set begin Monday.
Between 0.7 and 1.2 parts per million of fluoride — a ratio equivalent to about one penny in $10,000 — will be added to the city’s water supply, monitored daily in an effort in which dentists and others say will prevent tooth decay, especially in children.
The fluoridation must continue for a minimum of 10 years, according to the contract the city signed in March 2005 with the Washington Dental Service Foundation, which provided the $260,000 grant to build a fluoride treatment plant.
The city is responsible for maintaining the system at a cost of about $10,000 annually.
Port Angeles will join Forks as the only communities on the North Olympic Peninsula with fluoridated water — two of 53 communities statewide serving about 1.8 million people.
City Engineering Manager Steve Sperr said fluoride will begin being added to the city’s water supply on Monday, possibly extending into Tuesday depending upon project startup.
Fluoridation information
He said the city has included messages about the impending fluoridation with its latest water bills, and also has developed a brochure and business card, set up a phone number and included a fluoridation information section on the city’s Web site (www.cityofpa.us).
Health-related questions are being referred to the Clallam County Health Department, and people also are being encouraged to contact their dentists, Sperr said.
“We’re answering questions in public works about whether someone is a customer of city,” he said.
The Port Angeles water system has about 7,500 service connections inside the city limit.
The city also provides water to an additional 1,368 residential customers and 124 commercial accounts in the unincorporated area east of the city served by Clallam County Public Utility District No. 1.
