Frequently Asked Questions
The water supply in Feilding is fluoridated, the other supplies are not.
Hydro Fluorosilicic Acid (HFA)
The average concentration measured in the Feilding water supply over the past month was 0.78mg/L. The maximum acceptable value under Table 2 of the Water Services (Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand) Regulations 2022 is 1.5mg/L
Fluoride levels are monitored constantly by online instruments. The instruments are validated daily by our operations team using a bench top analysis and a sample is sent weekly to our contracted laboratory.
See above.
Wastewater from Feilding is discharged onto land within the irrigation area at the wastewater treatment plant and into the Oroua River.
Manawatū DC holds a consent for discharge of treated wastewater onto land and to the Oroua River. The consent has specified requirements relating to organic material, nutrients, and other contaminants that may be harmful to the receiving environment but is silent on fluoride.
Water supply quality is managed through the Water Services (Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand) Regulations (2022), the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules (2022), and Aesthetic Values for Drinking Water (2022). A Resource Consent is not required to allow addition of fluoride to drinking water.
On average MDC spends approximately $3,620 (excl.GST) on fluoride for the Feilding water supply.
Service and maintenance of the equipment costs approximately $1,200 per annum.
MDC spends approximately $390 on laboratory testing for fluoride per annum.
Hydroflurosilicic acid costs approximately $760 per tonne of 22% (w/w) solution.
We are not required to monitor the fluoride content of our treated wastewater discharges and so we cannot calculate the quantity of fluoride discharged into the environment from our operations. The above annual figures imply that about 4.8 tonnes of HFA is used by the council to fluoridate the water (and so will end up in the environment).