Date of fluoride reintroduction in Calgary's water supply pushed back again

Calgary's water supply will be without fluoridation for almost another year after a delay in the construction project needed to reintroduce the mineral.

Infrastructure upgrades, initially anticipated to be finished by June of this year, are required at both the Glenmore and Bearspaw water treatment plants, the City of Calgary said. 

The plan to reintroduce fluoride to the city's water supply was initially set in motion after a council vote and decision in November 2021.

While construction work is underway, the city said resource challenges, as well as ongoing uncertainty with the global supply chain, have led to the construction completion date being pushed back again.

A statement from the city on Thursday said the system was initially anticipated to be in service by September 2024.

"This date was set with an understanding that timelines may change," the statement said.

Following an earlier delay in July 2023, the city provided a price-tag update for the project that showed costs had nearly tripled — from an initial estimate of $10.1 million to $28.1 million.

The city did not say if there are additional costs associated with the most recent delay.

Delays are concerning says medical expert

Calgary began fluoridating the city's water supply in 1991. This continued until 2011, when city council voted to discontinue the addition of fluoride.

In 2021, council voted to reintroduce fluoridation, but the change isn't happening quickly enough, one medical expert says.

"Every delay means more young children lose the protection that fluoridation gives to their teeth," said Dr. James Dickinson with Calgarians for Kids' Health, a group of 21 physicians advocating for the mineral in Calgary's water supply.

According to the city, existing infrastructure cannot be used because it reached the end of its life cycle in 2011. It was decommissioned and removed following council's decision to stop fluoridation.

While Dickinson says modernizing infrastructure is a necessity, he worries that the length of the delays could have long-term negative effects on children.

"The children who get bad problems end up with rotten teeth, and they have to have extractions, and that's one of the commonest causes of children having anesthetics is to have tooth extractions," he said.

"It starts with a minor degree of trouble in a child, but it ends up being a mouthful of problems for an older adult."