May 17, 2005
SUBJECT: Study Issue on Fluoridation of Drinking Water
REPORT IN BRIEF
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), one of the City’s wholesale water providers, will begin providing fluoridated water in September 2005. This will fluoridate the water in the north half of Sunnyvale only.
Staff suggested a study issue to present information on how the water system will be affected by receiving fluoridated water from only one of our primary sources. This Report to Council clarifies three issues involving this partial provision of fluoridated waters to Sunnyvale: (1) which residents will receive fluoridated water from SFPUC, (2) the cost to fluoridate the rest of the City water supply, (3) some issues and costs associated with not fluoridating the rest of the City water supply.
Some alternatives are presented and a recommendation is made to not fluoridate the rest of the City water supply.
BACKGROUND
In November 2004 the Department of Public Works proposed that a study issue be presented to Council concerning the fluoridation of a portion of the City’s water supply (Attachment A). Based upon a review of proposed study issues, Council, on January 25, 2005, approved this topic to be a study issue in 2005. As described in the Study Issue paper (“Fluoridation of Drinking Water”), this is prompted by the plans of San Francisco Public Utility Commission (SFPUC) to begin furnishing fluoridated water to their entire Bay Area service area in 2005.
The California Department of Health Services (CDHS) has adopted regulations (California Health and Safety Code Sections 116409-116415; Attachment B) requiring that all public water systems with at least 10,000 service connections fluoridate the water they provide to their customers if funds are provided by sources other than rate payers. The regulations took effect on January 1, 1997.
Water systems in California can voluntarily choose to fluoridate at any time, however it is not required until an outside source of funding can be identified. In fact, a jurisdiction that has installed fluoridation but loses its source of operation financing may cease fluoridation efforts for that year for which no funding is available.
Currently, the SFPUC fluoridates the water it provides to customers from Redwood City north. Some Bay Area cities and agencies independently fluoridate their water supply, including Hayward, Mountain View, Alameda County Water District, Palo Alto, and Stanford. Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD), the City’s other outside water provider, has indicated that it will fluoridate its water when funding from the state is received.
The new SFPUC fluoridation facility, scheduled to begin operation in September 2005, is located where it can fluoridate the entire system, and will therefore bring fluoridated water to Sunnyvale for the first time. The area of the City that receives water purchased from SFPUC is generally north of El Camino Real (See map; Attachment C). South of El Camino Real water is generally from SCVWD or from City wells.
Section 116410 (f) of the Health and Safety Code addresses systems that receive fluoridated water from one, but not all of the city’s sources of water, as will be the case in Sunnyvale once SFPUC begins fluoridation of their system. Any system so impacted is exempt from maintaining the otherwise required levels of fluoridation in areas receiving non-fluoridated water. In such cases CDHS highly recommends, but does not require, that water retailers construct fluoridation facilities to provide a uniform, consistent fluoride level throughout their distribution systems. Staff verified with Mr. Eric Lacy, District Engineer for CDHS, that the City is not required to fluoridate the rest of the water in the system.
Less than 5% of the time each year (from 1 to 10 days), there may be reason for the City to close off one of its primary suppliers. When SCVWD is not available, more ground water is used and SFPUC water is pumped to the south part of the City. After September, such incidents would result in more of the City residents receiving some level of fluoridated water, though south of El Camino Real the level would be less than optimum. At other times, if SFPUC water is not available to the City, then the City uses the combination of groundwater and SCVWD water. At such times there will be no fluoridated water supplied to the system. Generally, after September 2005, more than 97% of the time residents and businesses in the northern part of the City can expect to be receiving water fluoridated to an optimal level. The costs of fluoridating the rest of the Sunnyvale water system are discussed in the Fiscal Impact section of this report.
EXISTING POLICY
General Plan Elements 3.1A and 3.1D mandate that the Public Works Department ensures that potable water is available in sufficient quantity and pressure to meet the City's existing and future demands, and to ensure that potable water meets all quality and health standards.
Policy 3.1A.1. Purchase Hetch Hetchy [SFPUC] and Santa Clara Valley Water District [SCVWD] water in amounts dictated by existing and future demands, and economics.
Policy 3.1A.2. Develop and operate City wells as dictated by existing and future demands, and economics.
DISCUSSION
As suggested in the Proposed Council Study Issue, there were three important items to consider as part of the Study. They are:
- Which residents are currently served by SFPUC, SCVWD and the City?
- How much would it cost to fluoridate all City and SCVWD water?
- What are the issues and costs associated with not fluoridating City and SCVWD water?
Which residents are currently served by SFPUC, SCVWD and the City?
As presented above, while SFPUC will fluoridate the water Sunnyvale receives in the north half of the City, the City is not required to fluoridate all other sources. Attachment C diagrams where customers will be receiving fluoridated water and where they will not. Zone I receives water from SFPUC. Zones II and III use water from SCVWD and from the City’s groundwater wells.
Issues associated with not fluoridating City and SCVWD water
CDHS identifies that this is not a health issue. They recommend fluoridation due to the health (particularly dental) benefits, however NOT fluoridating is not considered a specific health “problem.” The primary reasons to not fluoridate the rest of the City sources are financial, as presented under the Fiscal Impact section of this report. There are also aesthetic aspects to fluoridating water at multiple sources. Any site involving fluoridation will require a tank to hold the fluoride compound, an injection pump, and security measures to protect the chemicals and the injection system. Additional fences and screening would be involved. There would be some noise associated with the injection of the fluoride into the water.
SFPUC is responsible for fluoride monitoring and notification to its consumers within the City and County of San Francisco and to those outside agencies to which it supplies water. SFPUC will monitor fluoride levels on a daily basis at its turnouts, including those connecting with Sunnyvale’s distribution system; however, it will be the City’s responsibility to monitor its system to be aware of any shifts in the pattern of fluoridation throughout the City. SFPUC is responsible for notification of high/low levels of fluoride to CDHS, but Sunnyvale will be responsible for notifying its customers. We will be establishing a monitoring plan in the next few months in compliance with the requirements.
Sunnyvale is responsible for notifying its customers that they will start receiving fluoridated water. The City is also responsible for notifying those customers in parts of the City that could receive less than optimal fluoride levels, since we have other water sources that are not fluoridated. Public information materials are being prepared by SFPUC for distribution to the affected population. Also, we will be presenting the information about the fluoridation schedule in the annual Water Quality Report that will be included in the summer Quarterly Report, to be distributed at the beginning of July.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City is not required to fluoridate portions of the City water system that are supplied with non-fluoridated water, until an outside source of funding is identified. Therefore, the only additional cost due to the fluoridation of the SFPUC system is the monthly monitoring of fluoride levels. The annual cost of analysis is estimated to be less than $7,000, based upon using samples already collected for other purposes, and testing of the samples at the City’s laboratory at the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP).
Costs to fluoridate all City and SCVWD water
If Council wanted to consider fluoridating the balance of the City water system, there are some options. Fluoridating only the water from the primary SCVWD turnout would result in 95% of the City customers receiving fluoridated water almost all of the time (1 location). A second option would be to fluoridate both SCVWD turnouts and all 7 operating wells (9 locations). However, a third option would be to fluoridate the 2 SCVWD turnouts and the 3 most frequently operating wells (5 locations). Costs would vary per alternative from approximately $250,000 (option 1), to as much as $1.8 million for all 9 locations (option 2), including appropriate security measures.
In 2001, the City of Mountain View completed a project to fluoridate all of their water sources (including SFPUC, SCVWD and well water). That encompassed 2 SFPUC turnouts, 1 SCVWD turnout, and 5 wells, at a total cost of about $1.3 million.
Annual chemical and maintenance costs are estimated to be in the range of $80,000 - 100,000 depending upon the number of sites involved and amount of water treated. Note that none of these costs have been included in the recently considered cost analysis of the water system, including projected rates and 20 year financial analysis.
CONCLUSION
This report presents some details about variances in the water the City will be providing to residents once SFPUC begins fluoridation of all the water they provide to the Bay Area. California Department of Health Services (CDHS) has stated that no further fluoridation is required without the necessary funding being available. Once fluoridation by SFPUC begins, water sampling and analysis will routinely be performed and will be reported to CDHS in monthly reports, and to the City in the annual Water Quality Report.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made through posting of the Council agenda on the City’s official notice bulletin board, posting of the agenda and report on the City’s web page, and the availability of the report in the City Clerk’s office, Library, Parks and Recreation Administration office, Corporation Yard, Community Center and Senior Center.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Accept the fluoridated water from SFPUC with no additional fluoridation effort at this time.
2. Accept the fluoridated water from the SFPUC and authorize a capital project to provide fluoridation of the rest of the water supply of the City.
3. Request additional information from staff regarding fluoridation before making a decision.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Alternative 1: Accept the fluoridated water from SFPUC with no additional fluoridation effort at this time.
Reviewed by:
Marvin A. Rose, Director, Department of Public Works
Prepared by: James G. Craig, Superintendent of Field Services
Approved by:
Amy Chan
City Manager
Attachments
A. Study Issue Paper: Fluoridation of Drinking Water # DPW-02 (273kb .pdf)
B. Health and Safety Code sections 116409-116415 (external website)
C. City of Sunnyvale Water Source Blending Map (.jpg)