Fluoride has been reintroduced into the drinking water in Alberta’s largest city nearly four years after Calgarians voted in support in a plebiscite on the matter in the last municipal election.

Calgary city council voted in favour of adding fluoride to the city’s water supply in November 2021, after a plebiscite during that year’s municipal election resulted in 62 per cent of Calgarians voting in support.

The move required a series of upgrades at both of Calgary’s water treatment plants at a cost of $28.1 million.

The reintroduction of fluoride will also require $1 million in annual operating spending, which the city said is funded through water rates.

Although there is fluoride naturally in the Bow and Elbow rivers in low concentrations — between 0.1 and 0.4 milligrams per litre — the city said it is adding a consistent concentration to reach 0.7 mg/L, which is recommended by Health Canada to enhance oral health.

“Fluoridation is backed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, Alberta Health Services and numerous health organizations worldwide,” the city said in a statement. “It is a proven, safe and cost-effective way to reduce cavities and improve dental health, especially for those without regular access to dental care.”

City officials added that the reintroduction of fluoride has no impact on the taste or smell of drinking water.

Juliet Guichon, a professor in the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, told Global News that studies show dental decay rose significantly in children in Calgary — after fluoride was removed — compared to Edmonton where the water remained fluoridated.

“This demonstrated, irrefutably, that water fluoridation makes a difference,” Guichon said. “Even in an era with fluoridated products, going to the dentist and getting fluoride applied, dental sealants and so on.”

However, a group called Safe Water Calgary is trying to put a stop to fluoridation and has filed an injunction at the Court of King’s Bench that will be heard on July 9. The group says it has “new science” to support its anti-fluoride stance, adding that the risk of damage is not worth the dental benefit.

“There are so many other ways we can get fluoride into kids,” said Robert C. Dickson with Safe Water Calgary.

“There’s a national dental care program for the poor now, … there’s fluoride in toothpaste if you want it, there’s fluoride in rinses and gels and foams at the dentist’s office if you want it. We spent $28 million to replace the infrastructure. That could have funded programs for decades.”

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Adding fluoride to Calgary’s water supply has long been a contentious issue in the city.

Calgarians voted against introducing fluoride into the drinking water in four separate plebiscites on the issue in 1957, 1961, 1966 and 1971.

It wasn’t until a 1989 plebiscite when Calgarians voted in favour of introducing fluoridation, which began in 1991.

It was supported again in a 1998 plebiscite by more than half of voters, which resulted in a reduction of the level of fluoride from 1.0 mg/L to 0.7 mg/L after a review by the City of Calgary and AHS.

Calgary’s drinking water remained fluoridated for 20 years until city council voted to discontinue the practice in 2011.

Ward 9 councillor Gian-Carlo Carra was part of that council when the decision was made and said the move was largely driven by costs.

“I can acknowledge it probably wasn’t the right thing to do at the time, and I’m deeply proud of Calgarians for voting to put it back in,” he said.

Reintroducing fluoride into Calgary’s drinking water has faced several delays due to supply chain issues and inflationary pressures.

Calgary joins Edmonton, Red Deer and Lethbridge as Alberta cities that add fluoride to drinking water, which is also done in other cities like Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa.

The move will impact communities like Chestermere, Airdrie, Strathmore and portions of Foothills County, Rocky View County and Tsuut’ina Nation, which have their drinking water supplied by the City of Calgary.