Are you looking for an affordable way to remove fluoride from your water? Look no further. In this guide, I will discuss five pocket-friendly techniques to remove fluoride from water.

The five cost-effective methods of eliminating fluoride from water include:

Bone charcoal carbon

Reverse osmosis

Activated alumina

Tulsi or holy basil

Water filter pitchers.

Apart from discussing these five techniques, I'll also help you understand what fluoride is, its sources, its health effects, and some safety measures. Read on to discover more.

What is Fluoride?

Fluoride is a monatomic ionic mineral found naturally in water, soil, the earth's crust, and foods. It has various benefits when consumed, including mineralizing your teeth and bones, which is vital for them to remain strong. Approximately 99% of this monatomic ionic mineral is available in teeth and bones. Fluoride is also available in local water and different types of toothpaste.

Fluoride in Water

It’s widely known that fluoride has positive effects on bones and teeth. As a result, water supply companies add this element to their products. The United States Health and Human Services Department recommends the level of fluoride in water be 0.7 mg per liter to reduce dental fluorosis in children.

In some areas, fluoride is naturally available in surface water. However, the concentration is below 0.3 mg per liter, and that's why water supply companies add more to attain the level that the United States Health and Human Services Department recommends.

Health Effects

Many firms and communities are against the addition of fluoride in water, claiming that:

It’s detrimental to the parathyroid gland

It leads to skeletal fluorosis, a bone disease that results from fluoride accumulation

It gives rise to neurological and skin issues

It causes cardiovascular and reproductive problems when you consume a higher amount for a long period

Safety Measures

You can use several ways to reduce the level of fluoride in your body. These preventive measures include:

Use fluoride-free toothpaste

Consider stainless steel pans for cooking. Teflon-coated or pans that do not stick raise the level of fluoride when you use them to prepare food.

Avoid boiling water since this practice doesn't lower the fluoride amount. Use any of the five techniques discussed in this guide to eliminate fluoride from water.

Reduce your daily intake of the crimson or black tea

5 Pocket-Friendly Ways to Remove Fluoride from Water

After far-reaching research, I have identified the five cheapest methods to remove fluoride from water, which I'll discuss below.

Bone Charcoal Carbon

Also known as brimac char, bone charcoal carbon is a type of filter media. While it's one of the cheapest fluoride removal techniques, preparing the filter media at home is challenging. To prepare bone charcoal carbon, you need to clean and heat animal bones to higher temperatures, which is a great challenge.

Before heating the animal bones, you need to clean and sun-dry them for approximately three months. After that, heat the bones in a deoxygenated oven at about 800o Celsius. This process results in the form of carbon, known as amorphous.

Bone charcoal carbon is made up of 10% calcium carbonate, 10% carbon, and 80% phosphate due to its uncrystallized nature. These elements make the bone charcoal carbon an ideal method to remove fluoride from water. Aside from fluoride, bone charcoal carbon filters also remove heavy metals from water, including lead.

A disadvantage of using this technique is that it works best with acidic water. It isn’t effective with hard or alkaline water.

Tulsi

Sometimes known as sacred or holy basil, Tulsi is a natural technique for removing fluoride from water. The whole process is straightforward as it requires you to soak the stems and leaves of the plant, fresh or dried, in water. After approximately 8 hours, about 80% of the element will be eliminated, bringing its level down.

Most studies suggest using about 80mg of tulsi plant extract for 100 ml. Once the 8 hours elapse, filter your water and store it for use in the future. The main issue with this technique is that it only eliminates about 80% of the element.

Water Filter Pitchers

W10413645a Water filter pitchers offer the most popular and pocket-friendly fluoride removal method. An excellent water filter pitcher removes not only fluoride but also other contaminants, including chlorine, heavy metals, and other pollutants. The best part is that water filter pitchers are affordable.

The best water filter edr3rxd1 pitcher usually takes a minimum of 20 minutes to remove approximately 95% of fluoride from water. A drawback of using this technique is that you’ll need to wait for anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes to use your fluoride-free water.

Activated Alumina

Activated alumina is obtained from rubies and sapphire, after which some impurities are added to help it achieve its distinct color. Also referred to as aluminum oxide, activated alumina is used on a large scale to treat groundwater sources with high levels of fluoride.

Thanks to its high absorption capacity, you can use activated alumina to treat water in your home. The best part is that you can also use this compound to remove other elements from water, including arsenic, lead, and thallium.

Activated alumina can remove at least 90% of the fluoride present in water. For this method to work effectively, your water needs to have a pH level of 6.5 and below. The compound reduces the concentration of fluoride to a minimum level of 0.1 mg per liter, making the water safe for consumption.

One disadvantage of using activated alumina is that you’ll have to replace the cartridge frequently. Additionally, you'll need to test it frequently to keep the system performance in check.

Reverse Osmosis

There's no better answer to the question of how to eliminate fluoride from water cost-effectively than reverse osmosis. As a water purification technology, reverse osmosis utilizes gravity or force to push water through a special mesh.

The mesh is special since it contains tiny pores that allow water to pass while at the same time filtering out toxins, contaminants, ions, and, more importantly, fluoride. Reverse osmosis can remove 95% of the fluoride available in the water.

Compared to other methods, a reverse filtration system doesn’t cost much and is safe to use. The only disadvantage of using reverse osmosis is that the maintenance cost of the system is high, and it takes longer to filter water.

Final Thoughts

High levels of fluoride can cause various health issues in your body. As a result, you need to significantly reduce its consumption, which you can achieve through:

Reverse osmosis

Activated alumina

Water filters

Tulsi or holy basil

Bone charcoal carbon

I hope this piece of content has been helpful. If yes, feel free to share it with your family members or friends and also leave a comment.