Fluoride Removal

Fluoride is one of the most difficult chemicals to remove from water, and while the internal filters in your water ionizer are great for reducing most contaminants, none can offer effective fluoride removal.

There are many contaminants in the water that comes from our tap.  Chlorines, chloramines, and heavy metals are just a few.  These can be removed or at least significantly reduced by the filtration media in your water ionizer’s filters.  These filters will provide some fluoride reduction but nothing that could be considered significant.

The Problem

Fluoride is actually a name given to several compounds found in water that have bonded with the element Fluorine.  When fluoride is in your water supply it is fluorine that has bonded to another compound.

Fluoride is the hardest compound to remove for a simple reason.  Its base element, fluorine, is the most electromagnetic element there is.  When fluorine is a solitary element it is looking for 

something to bond with, and when it does it is incredibly hard to break the bond.  

When added to water it becomes highly soluble, and even more difficult to remove.  This is because the number of electrons in a hydrogen atom, one, is the number that will stabilize fluorine.  Once these two elements bond they are incredibly hard to separate.  This is why fluoride is so hard to remove from water – the “H” in the H2O makeup bonds strongly with fluoride – the higher the pH (potential hydrogen) of your source water, the more difficult it is to remove the fluoride.

Why Reverse Osmosis Isn’t the Answer

Reverse Osmosis is said to remove “everything” from your water, but everything apparently excludes fluoride.  RO systems do a great job reducing the amount of fluoride, at best they can remove up to 90% of the compound.  However a reverse osmosis removes everything else from your water – including minerals that can be beneficial for you.  Not to mention your water ionizer needs the minerals in the water so that they can receive the charge your plates are giving the water.   No minerals in the water means no ionization.

Another reason to reconsider the purchase of a RO system is a cost v. benefit analysis.  Reverse Osmosis systems can be  expensive, and while you are spending more on an ionizer, when you look at the potential benefit of a RO system you may be surprised. 

• The soft water created by a RO system can be good for you in the short term, but the lack of minerals that your body needs can leave you mineral deficient in the long run.  
• Your water ionizer needs the minerals in the water to give it a charge.  Without the minerals you are wasting your ionizer’s potential.
• When using and RO system you can only use the amount of water that the system has created.  If your system has a gallon holding tank you can only use one gallon, after that you have to wait for more water.
• If you want to use your RO system with your ionizer effectively you need to purchase a remineralizing pre-filter that puts beneficial minerals back into your water before it passes through your water ionizer.
• An RO system greatly reduces the flow rate of your water.  The addition of a remineralizing filter slows it slightly more.
• An RO system costs between $175.00 and $350.00, not to mention the cost of annual maintenance and the remineralizing filter.

The Best Way to Filter Fluoride

Activated Alumina is considered to be the BAT or Best Available Technology for removing fluoride from water.  A fluoride pre-filter with activated alumina can reduce fluoride by up to 90% which

is not much less than the top performing RO systems.  However the cost of a fluoride pre-filter is less than half that of RO systems.

Another bonus of the activated alumina pre-filter is the water savings.  For a RO system every gallon of clean water produced, a gallon of water is wasted.  However the activated alumina pre-filter is a flow through filter meaning the water that passes through it is filtered and none is wasted.  If you choose to go the route of a fluoride pre-filter you might want a KDF pre-filter.  

Although activated alumina has been deemed non-toxic and has been used in water filtration for many years, some insist that trace amounts of aluminum can be found in the water after passing through the filter.  The KDF filter will filter out any aluminum, and any other heavy metals that are in your source water.

In fact while your internal filters are designed to cut down on the heavy metals commonly found in source water, they are not designed for waters with high levels of aluminum, or higher than normal heavy metal content.  A system that couples a Activated Alumina pre-filter with a KDF filter will could actually be beneficial to your internal filters life span and save you money.

A multi cartridge pre-filtration system like the C3 Pre-filtration system is significantly less expensive than a RO System, and could save you money on the yearly upkeep on your water ionizer.  The C3 system that contains carbon filter, a Fluoride pre-filter, and a KDF pre-filter takes up far less space than an RO system, and have less impact on your flow rate and water usage.

Please visit the pre-filter section of our store to view all available options.View all Pre-filtration Options