Fluoridated water will come to residents

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa residents will get fluoridated drinking water — most of them for the first time — beginning in November. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will start adding fluoride to water at the Robert B. Diemer Treatment Plant, which serves Newport and Costa Mesa.

City Utilities Director Steve Myrter said some fluoride occurs naturally in groundwater, but a larger amount is required to provide fluoride’s dental health benefits. The water district’s board agreed in 2003 to add fluoride to local water supplies at the request of county health officials and dental associations, district spokesman Bob Muir said.

The city of Newport Beach will inform residents about the fluoridation via a flier in upcoming water bills. For more information, call the city utilities department at (949) 644-3011 or visit the Metropolitan Water District online at www.mwdh2o.com/ fluoridation/index.html.

— Alicia Robinson