Areas ready to tap into fluoride

GLENDALE — Small amounts of fluoride will begin flowing from local water taps as soon as Tuesday as regional water plants that feed Glendale and the foothills start introducing the compound, water officials said.

Fluoridation won’t fully take hold in Glendale until Nov. 26, when the compound is introduced at the Granada Hills-based Jensen Water Plant — Glendale’s main supplier through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

La Crescenta and other unincorporated foothill communities will get stronger doses on Tuesday since most of that region’s water comes from the Weymouth Plant in La Verne, said Nina Jazmadarian, general manager of the Foothill Municipal Water District, which acts as an intermediary between Metropolitan and the Crescenta Valley Water District for about 40% of its supply.

Even though Glendale isn’t as connected to Weymouth, it could still see small amounts of the fluoridated water on Tuesday as well, said Dan Askenaizer, senior environmental program specialist for Glendale Water & Power.

“The water could come over here, but that depends on a lot of things,” Askenaizer said. “If we do, it shouldn’t be very much.”

When it does, color, odor and taste will remain the same, but the water’s chemical makeup will be slightly altered to eventually contain 0.8 milligrams of fluorosilicic acid per liter — considered the optimal level to fight tooth decay, especially among children, according to the Metropolitan Water District — the wholesaler that supplies almost all Southland municipal water agencies.

“They’ll notice no difference,” said Denis Wolcott, spokesman for the water agency.

Once the Jensen plant comes online Nov. 26, local water will be near or at 0.8-milligram level, Askenaizer said.

While several county municipal water agencies — Los Angeles, Long Beach and Beverly Hills — have been putting fluoride in their water for years, it has remained absent from Glendale and La Crescenta supplies.

The change comes four years after Metropolitan’s board of directors approved the mass fluoridation project with strong support from their member water agencies and the dental health community.

Fluoride, a naturally occurring compound found in rocks and soil, is widely accepted by national, state and local health officials to help prevent cavities.