Consuming an adequate amount of fluoride is beneficial for health. The doctors said so. But, too much of fluoride consumption can cause severe hitches like fluorosis, infection in teeth and can create bones problem.
America and most other countries tend to add fluoride in supply water for years. Recent research conducted by Harvard University state that water containing fluoride harms human health.
Consequently, many countries emphasize the need for the removal of fluoride in water. So, how to remove fluoride from water cheaply? There are many ways to remove fluoride, and here some can be done at home.
That being said, the cheapest way to remove fluoride is sedimentation. The reason is that fluoride mostly settles at a low level of the water where sediment remains.
There are more guaranteed ways like using reverse osmosis filters, catalytic carbon filters, pitcher filters, etc. We'll discuss them elaborately in this article. Let's get started!Table of Contents
How to Remove Fluoride from Water Cheaply?
1. A study conducted by WHO
States that water used by a human should not have fluoride concentration more than 1mg/L. But, in reality, more than 6.5 million Americans are exposed to fluoride concentration higher than 2mg/L.
Already the misuse of water by a human makes the supply water harmful to consume. You can read the article to learn more about the negative impact of human water use. To know more about that, See The Link. On top of that, if the local municipalities add too much fluoride, drinking water becomes hazardous to health.
A lot of fluoride addition contamination results in chemical smell. It goes directly to the human body due to insufficient purification. Here we'll discuss some of the purification methods to remove fluoride from water. Look at the tips on how to remove fluoride from water cheaply.
2. Reverse Osmosis Filter
Reverse osmosis filter is the most popular and effective method to remove fluoride from water. This process helps to remove up to 95% of fluoride from water.
The RO system uses pressure technology where water forced to go through the filters. This filter includes carbon filters and a semipermeable membrane. They both capture fluoride when the water goes through the filtration process.
Most RO filter uses 4-stage filtration to make sure the water is highly purified. Moreover, the best part is that the RO filter not only removes fluoride, it also other contaminants, like chlorine, lead, etc.
Compared to other methods, reverse osmosis filters are a safer option. Also, they don't cost too much. Some homeowner installs whole-house reverse osmosis to remove contaminants from all the sinks.
Those units may require high maintenance costs, but they are worth it. However, there is also a smaller RO system. You can install them at specific places like the kitchen sink.
3. Sedimentation
Earlier, we already mention that sedimentation is the cheapest way to remove fluoride. Real, it is. Sedimentation is a water treatment process that uses gravity to remove solids from water. You can try the general way as it requires nothing but a non-metallic container.
Fill the container with supply water and leave the lid open for a while. It makes sure the chlorine evaporates. Then, close the lid and wait for at least 8 hours. Meanwhile, water is ready as the contaminants, including fluoride is settled at the bottom. Use the water from the top and leave the rest.
The general way of sedimentation may not remove fluoride all the time. There is a whole house sediment filter to do this job. You need to install a whole house sediment filter where the main water line arrives at your home.
4. Activated Alumina
Activated alumina is a distinct way to remove fluorosis from water. This method uses aluminum oxide to treat water containing too much fluoride. The aluminum oxide is also known as activated alumina balls that derive from rubies and sapphire.
These activated alumina balls efficiently attract the excess fluoride in the water. It claims to remove approximately 90% fluoride from water. This process requires water to have a pH level of less than 6.5.
The activated alumina is not only useful in removing fluoride but also works great to remove arsenic and thallium. However, the activated alumina filter can reduce the fluoride concentration down to 0.1 ppm.
5. Water Distillation
Distillation is an affordable and cheap option to remove fluoride from water. It is one of the oldest methods that works similarly to the groundwater cycle. However, this method uses a natural process where the water first evaporates and then condensate.
There is a lot of water distiller available in the market. This unit removes fluoride, including other contaminants with high distillation speed.
6. Fluoride Water Filters
There are a lot of water filters that specially designed to remove fluoride. Some of them are;
- APEC water system RO.
- Woder WD-FRM-8K-DC fluoride filter.
- Big Berkey Gravity-Fed Water Filter.
These filters prove to be efficient in removing fluoride from water. You can install these to remove fluoride from your whole household water supply. Along with this, the refrigerator water filter can be an excellent option to drink cold and fluoride-free water.
7. Water Filter Pitcher
Having a water filter pitcher at home ensures fluoride-free and filtered drinking water. Water pitchers can remove other contaminants along with fluoride. The best part is that the water pitcher is easy to use and doesn't require installation.
Most water filter pitcher includes the reservoir, filter, and pitcher. However, the water is filled into the tank that goes through the filter. Here the filter captures all the impurities and lets the freshwater goes to the pitcher.
All you need to do is fill the reservoir and let it do the rest. However, you may need to change the filter after using it for a specific time. Overall, it's a great and cheapest option to remove fluoride.
8. Faucet Mount Filters
Faucet mount filters are a convenient way to remove fluoride from water. That being said, faucet mount filter can remove up to 80 different contaminants from water.
Besides, they are easy to install and less expensive. Faucet mount filter ensures the best performance to remove fluoride. The cartridge of faucet filters comprises a micro-screen layer and activated coconut coal.
It captures fluoride along with sand, heavy metals, dust, chlorine, metallic taste, and bad smell from water. The faucet filter doesn't require electricity, still, assure the safe drinking water.
9. Deionization
Deionization is mostly used to remove ionized salt and minerals from water. It also removes fluoride from water, but you need to attach ion-exchange resin to the deionizer.
Deionizer can add to any filtration system at your home. All you have to do is to install a deionizer cartridge along with your current filtration system. This combination not only removes fluoride but also eliminates other impurities and softens hard water.
10. Bone Char Carbon
The next one, bone char carbon, is somewhat a rarely used method to remove fluoride from water. Bone char is a porous and granular material that derives from ground cattle bones.
Bone char can remove fluoride up to 90% fluoride from water. It works great to the water that is somewhat acidic in pH level. Bone char also efficient in eliminating cadmium, leads, arsenic, and other contaminants.
In shorty, it can remove both organic and inorganic material from the water. Bone char carbon filter comes with a filter cartridge. You need to change it often to ensure the best performance.
11. Tulsi or Holy Basil – The Natural Way
If the price is your concern, using the leaves or powder of tulsi or holy basil is a great choice. It is the most organic and safest way to remove fluoride from water. Tulsi leaves anti-oxidation properties.
Add a few leaves of tulsi in 75mg of your drinking water and leave it for 8 hours. According to experts, tulsi bring down the high concentration of fluoride to an adequate standard.
It can reduce fluoride in water by up to 1.1 ppm. This value meets the WHO standards. Tulsi leaves are cheaply available, and you can also plant them in your garden.
What Doesn't Work to Remove Fluoride from Water?
Some other ways will not help you get rid of fluoride. Let's discuss briefly, so you don't waste your time trying them.
1. Boiling water Doesn't Work!
Boiling is considered an excellent purification method to remove germs from supply water. Though it works to remove chlorine and other bacteria, it doesn't remove fluoride from water.
2. Iron Filter
An iron filter is excellent for removing a range of chemicals, like ferrous, manganese, ferric iron, hydrogen sulfide, etc. It doesn't work to remove fluoride. If your household water contains too much iron, only you should opt for an iron filter.
3. Water Softener
A water softener works to remove negatively charged ions, such as calcium, potassium, etc. It cannot affect the level of fluoride in water as fluoride is a positively-charged ion. In case you have a water softener, you can check how to size water softener from here.
Conclusion
Although an ample amount of fluoride is good for health, don't underrate its adverse health effects. Do not drink water directly that contains fluoride. Now you know how to remove fluoride from water cheaply. All the discussed ways are not expensive and will undoubtedly bring the best result. Let's give them a try!
