The date for reintroducing fluoride to Calgary's water supply has been pushed back for a second time

Calgary's water supply will be free of fluoride for nearly another year after a second delay to a construction project needed to reintroduce the mineral.

Infrastructure upgrades, originally expected to be completed by June of this year, are needed at the Glenmore and Bearspaw water treatment plants, the City of Calgary said.

A plan to reintroduce fluoride to the city's water supply was launched in November 2021 after a council vote and decision.

As construction progressed, the city said resource challenges, as well as uncertainty in the global supply chain, pushed the construction deadline back again.

The system was originally expected to be operational by September 2024, the city said in a statement Thursday.

“This date has been set with the understanding that the timetable is subject to change,” the statement said.

After an earlier delay in July 2023, the city proposed an estimate update for the project, which showed costs had nearly tripled — from the original estimate of $10.1 million to $28.1 million.

The city did not say if there were additional costs associated with the latest delay.

Delays are worrying, says the doctor

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

The council voted to reintroduce fluoridation in 2021, but the change won't come fast enough, one health expert says.

“Every delay means young children lose the protection that fluoridation gives to their teeth,” said Dr. James Dickerson, a mineral protector in Calgary's water supply with the 21-doctor Calgarians for Children's Health group.

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

The story continues

While Dickerson says infrastructure upgrades are a necessity, he worries the length of the delays could have a long-term negative impact on children.

“Badly ill children end up with decayed teeth that have to be extracted, and one of the most common reasons these children are put under anesthesia is tooth extraction,” he said.

“It starts as a small problem in a child, but it becomes a mouthful of problems for older adults.”