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GATESVILLE – Plans continue to be formulated on how to distribute bottled water to local individuals and/or families whose health may be compromised by high levels of fluoride in the Gates County Public Water system.

That issue surfaced last month where the water from the wells used by the system were showing higher than normal amounts of fluoride.

At the Oct. 16 meeting of the Gates County Board of Commissioners, County Manager Scott Sauer updated an effort that materialized in September regarding an attempt to make bottled water available to county citizens who, by age or health conditions, are impacted the most by higher than normal fluoride levels.

That effort, he said, was sidetracked by Hurricane Helene, which at that time redirected the majority of bottled water inventory to the western part of the state.

“Secondly, as we spent some time studying our history with fluoride levels in our groundwater, we’ve concluded if it’s best to provide bottled water or provide some method of reimbursement or vouchers to those impacted,” Sauer said. “We ran through several calculations whereby we think we can spend as much as $3,000 per week on trying to cover all the targeted folks. We’re taking a measured and careful approach on what plan we may try to move forward with. Once we initiate a plan, it will be very difficult to pull it back.”

Based on recent testing, Gates County and Albemarle Regional Health Services (ARHS) recommend the following per EPA guidelines: Children eight years and younger should be provided with alternative sources of drinking water or water that has been treated to remove the fluoride to avoid the possibility of staining and pitting of their permanent teeth, if their main source of water contains more than 2.0 mg/L of fluoride.

Per the CDC, pregnant women or parents of children eight years and younger who live in areas with higher fluoride concentrations can use low fluoride bottled water, for instance, to mix infant formula.

Cooking with Gates County water is safe since the fluoride levels are below 4.0mg/l. Fluoride is not absorbed through skin so water levels above 2 mg/L can still be used for cleaning and bathing. Older children and adults may safely drink the water.

As for the level of fluoride in Gates County’s groundwater, Sauer revealed a conversation he had with an individual who works in Gates County, but lives in Suffolk, VA, who said the fluoride levels there are doubled, perhaps tripled, of those found locally.

Sauer also stressed that Gates County’s fluoride levels didn’t materialize overnight.

“This has been an issue here, certainly for decades and possibly for centuries,” he said. “There’s no single solution for this.”

Sauer again stressed the fact that the county, through NC Senator Bobby Hanig and local NC House Representative Bill Ward, is seeking a special appropriation from the state for $750,000 to construct six test wells plus an evaluation study of the water from those wells.

“I have to be frank in saying this, but because of the ongoing efforts in the western part of the state to help those folks recover from Hurricane Helene, there may not be an abundance of new money right now that the state can appropriate in anybody’s direction,” Sauer noted.

In that regard, Sauer floated an idea.

“We had set aside our remaining ARP (American Rescue Plan) allocation for broadband connectivity to use, if needed, as a local match,” he said. “We’re not going to be forced to use that $200,000. Those dollars can be freed up for anything that the commissioners place as a priority. Our well testing could be a use for that money.”

At that stage of the meeting, Commissioner Emily Truman put a motion on the floor to reallocate $200,000 of ARP funding if needed for the test wells. Vice Chair Jonathan Craddock offered a second and the motion passed without objection.

At the Oct. 16 meeting, Public Utilities Director Brad Arnold addressed a conversation he had with Bud Eure, the director of the county’s water system when it first originated in 1980.

“The first plant was built to remove fluoride, but that raised the PH levels in the water, causing them to have to add sulfuric acid to drop the PH and add caustic soda to reduce the hardness of the water,” Arnold said. “Those are corrosive materials. The county petitioned the state in 1989 to have that removed as at that time the fluoride levels were reduced to the point where treatment wasn’t necessary.”

But now those levels have increased and the county is seeking to place test wells at various locations in an effort to seek out groundwater containing acceptable amounts of fluoride. Arnold has also been in contact with a few farmers in the county who have deep wells they use for irrigation purposes to see if they will give the county permission to test their supply of groundwater.

Arnold also mentioned the possibly of installing screens at three different water levels in the test wells and taking samples at each screen in an effort to determine at what depth the amount of fluoride is higher.

As far as the current wells in operation, #1 initially came in with a fluoride level of 3.20 ppm (parts per million) in September. A few weeks later, the fluoride level had fallen to 0.56 ppm.

Well #2’s initial sampling was at 1.20 ppm while Well #3 was at 1.1 ppm.

Well #1 was taken offline and currently remains that way. The follow-up test of Well #2 revealed a fluoride level of 0.78 ppm but Well #3 increased to 3.11 ppm.

“It makes no sense whatsoever why it’s doing that,” Arnold stressed.

In week three of the testing, Well #2 was at 0.65 ppm and Well #3 was at 3.0 ppm.

“Well #3 has been at a 3.0 or a little bit higher every week since,” Arnold noted. “Well #2 fluctuates a lot. The next week it came in at 2.9; week before last it came in at 8.4 and the newest sample (received Oct. 16) was at 2.3.”

Those three wells are located less than one mile apart.

Sauer revealed a CAMA Land Use plan created in 1976 for all North Carolina counties. For Gates County, the plan reported excessive amounts of fluoride, as much as 6 to 8 ppm, in the vicinity of Gatesville and Sunbury.

“But otherwise that water is of acceptable quality,” that report stated.

“This was before Gates County was in the water business,” Sauer said. “It appears back then that the fluoride levels were two to nearly three times higher than they are today.

“We’ve moved very rapidly since our first call from Senator Hanig in late August. Much of that credit goes to Brad Arnold as well as Ashley Stoop, Director of Albemarle Regional Health Services. Ashley has led the discussion with state health and regulatory officials as we seek the best solution to address and correct the issue with the high levels of fluoride in our drinking water,” Sauer closed.