IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
Fluoride Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level (SMCL) Exceedance
Public Water System Name: STARK VILLAGE SCH PWS ID: 2185010
We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not your drinking water meets health standards. Your drinking water test result is above the Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level (SMCL) for the following: Fluoride 2.0 mg/L 2024
This is not an emergency. If it had been you would have been notified immediately. This is an alert about your drinking water and a cosmetic dental problem that might affect children under 9 years of age. At low levels, fluoride can help prevent cavities, but children drinking water containing more than 2.0 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of fluoride may develop cosmetic discoloration of their permanent teeth (dental fluorosis)
Dental fluorosis, in its moderate or severe forms, may result in a brown staining and/or pitting of the permanent teeth. This problem occurs only in developing teeth, before they erupt from the gums. Children under nine should be provided with alternative sources of drinking water or water that has been treated to remove the fluoride to avoid the possibility of staining and pitting of their permanent teeth. You may also want to contact your dentist about proper use by young children of fluoride-containing products. Older children and adults may safely drink the water.
Drinking water containing more than 4.0 mg/L of fluoride (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water standard) can increase your risk of developing bone disease. Your drinking water does not contain more than 4.0 mg/L of fluoride, but we are required to notify you when we discover that fluoride levels in your drinking water exceed 2.0 mg/L because of this cosmetic dental problem.
What should I do? Children under the age of nine (9) should use an alternative source of water that is low in fluoride.
In addition, you may want to consult your dentist about whether to avoid dental products containing fluoride. Adults and children over age nine should consult their dentist or doctor and show him/her this notice to determine if an alternate source of water low in fluoride should be used.
General health related questions may be directed to the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. Some home water treatment units are also available to remove fluoride from drinking water. To learn more about available home water treatment units, you may call NSF International at 1- 877-8-NSF-HELP
A machine readable version of this notice can be found here: https://5il.co/3cic9