BOUNTIFUL—On May 7, Davis County residents will no longer have fluoride in their drinking water. During the 2025 Legislative session lawmakers passed HB81, which was signed by the governor, that bans the addition of fluoride in public water systems. In Bountiful, the water department is preparing to comply with the regulation.

“Residents in Davis County voted to implement adding fluoride to the water in the early 2000s,” said Bountiful Water Department Director Kraig Christensen. “The Davis County Health Department was to oversee the introduction of fluoride and were held accountable to make sure the dosing was the right amount so that we weren’t overfeeding.”

Christensen said in Bountiful they have treatment in bulk storage. “We transfer it into a day tank so that there is no overfeed. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is the fluoride product that is being introduced into the system.”

There are little dosing pumps that are hooked up to a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) that detects the flow in the well, he said. “We base the dosing from that to make sure we get the proper dose. Our team monitors it every day and takes a proper sampling for our own records and Davis County’s records.”

Now with the May 7 deadline, Christensen said they’ll be making the change. “We’ll be making sure that everything is disconnected. We’ll be pulling the injector off the pipe and making sure the power is cut to our pumps so it will no longer work with SCADA.”

The lines to the bulk tanks will be disconnected from the system, he said. “We’ll remove all of that hydrofluorosilicic acid from our bulk tanks. A third party contractor company will come in and remove any remaining hydrofluorosilicic acid. We have to have pictures to document to the Division of Drinking Water that they've been properly disconnected.”

Prior to this Christensen said they have been dosing to stay within the current regulations. “Everything will be online tomorrow (May 7). It will take about two weeks to submit everything but it will be disconnected on May 7.”

The third party contractor will probably come in the next week, he said. “There are only two companies in the state licensed to do this so I imagine they’re kind of busy.”

There’s a natural level of fluoride in the water but it’s minimal, said Christensen. “People can get fluoride tablets or supplements from their pharmacist, doctor or dentist if they choose that option. The way I take it the EPA said the dose is a little too high in the State of Utah so they (legislators) voted to take it out.”

It’s just taking out one process, he said. “We’re just making sure that we do our job and that we're doing it right and listening to the regulations. It’s just one less step in water production.”

Residents shouldn’t taste a difference in the water, said Christensen. “It (fluoride) was tasteless and odorless so they won’t see a change.”