Utahns for Better Dental Health--Davis has issued a statement contending that a recent report shows "some cities have expended significantly higher costs per water source than others." They believe the public needs that information going into the November vote.
County residents have had fluoridated water for almost a year, but county commissioners agreed to let voters decide in November if they want to keep the chemical in the water supply, bringing the issue to the forefront again.
The report in question was compiled by Delane McGarvey, director of the health department's Envir-onmental Health Services Division. It shows that the county-wide average cost is 36 cents per person per month, or $4.34 per year, higher than the initial estimate of $1.38 per person per year.
Utahns for Better Health--Davis contends that much of the added cost was due to upgrades to city water equipment and roads which didn't have anything to do with fluoridation. They write, "fluoridation has resulted in major and very significant upgrades to all of the water systems, which go beyond fluoridation alone."
Among those upgrades, they contend, were improvements to "pump houses, paved roads and water pipes." It's work which Davis Health Director Lewis Garrett said was often needed and in most cases improved the water delivery system -- but was not directly related to fluoridation.
Beth Beck, who chairs UBDH said cities can't be faulted for installing equipment engineered to a greater degree of safety than national standards call for, "but the extra cost is not necessarily a required fluoridation investment."
She believes the full report wasn't released due to concerns over disparities in cost from city to city.
Garrett released a portion of the report to the Davis Board of Health this summer. But what he shared didn't tell the whole story, and UBDH wants the entire report disclosed.
They particularly want the disparities in the amount of money spent by the cities disclosed. While the average cost is 36 cents per person, Clearfield comes in at only eight cents per month per person, and North Salt Lake's fee is 86 cents per person. Other cities run the full gamut between the low and high.
At the time Garrett released the report, he said he didn't believe it necessary to share the full report with the board of health because "the cost numbers that were flying around (from 2000) were projections." He added, "our board's responsibility is not to monitor the cost, but to set the standards." Garrett wasn't health director when the original projections were given.
Beck admits that estimates made in 2000 were lower than actual costs, "but were based on reasonable assumptions."
She said that the assumptions were based on discussions with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District that the district would be able to separate fluoridated water serving Davis County from non-fluoridated water serving Weber County in a manner requiring minimal numbers of fluoridation sites. The idea proved unfeasible, raising infrastructure and equipment costs.
As noted earlier, the Board of Health in 2000 estimated it would cost about $1.38 per person per year to fluoridate the water. But the recent report shows the cost closer to $4.39. Total cost has been about $4.8 million on equipment, infrastructure and operations and maintenance.
Another point Utahns for Better Dental Health-Davis are emphasizing is that "even if voters change their minds and order fluoride to be removed, all but $400,000 of that investment will have to be paid off over the next several years." This is because new plant and equipment facilities have been purchased and put into service. "Davis County residents, based on their vote in 2000, will therefore be paying for fluoridation if the equipment is used or not."
mwilliams@ davisclipper.com
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