Beginning in 1945, government initiatives began adding fluoride to drinking water across the United States. This decision was made in response to studies which demonstrated a lower incidence of dental cavities in areas with high fluoride content in the local water supply. Now as many as 75% of Americans drink water with added fluoride. (Source: cancer.org) The practice is not limited to the United States, with countries across the globe adopting the practice. According to the U.S. Center of Disease Control, water fluoridation is one of the greatest medical achievements of the 20th century. Yet despite that, millions of skeptics across the globe worry about the fluoride in their water.

Our Top 4 Best Fluoride Water Filters

Here is a quick comparison of four diverse selections for different types of fluoride water filters, each admirably serving its purpose in their own way. Below we will have a more in-depth examination of these four picks, so keep scrolling for more info!

Do I Need a Fluoride Water Filter? The Great Water Fluoridation Debate

Controversy over the amount of fluoride in water has long been a spirited topic of public debate. While it has been shown that in high doses or in cases of fluoride poisoning the compound can cause serious adverse health effects, authorities on the matter maintain that water with added fluoride at regulated levels is safe and even beneficial. The only scientifically proven and medically documented adverse effect from fluoridated water at regulated levels is a condition known as dental fluorosis, which can cause discoloration of the teeth during their development in childhood.
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For those in the anti-fluoride camp, the negative health effects of fluoride include neurotoxicity, weaker bones leading to fractures, thyroid conditions, cancers, impaired mental abilities and lower IQ. Other studies have even sought with some success to demonstrate that there is no real benefit to water fluoridation in the first place.

Medically and scientifically, the debate is still open, with skeptics on both sides arguing that results are still inconclusive or studies poorly conducted. For the health conscious looking to err on the side of caution, the possibilities afforded by fluoride water filters offer an opportunity to take the decision of what goes into your body into your own hands.

Finding Water Filters That Remove Fluoride

If you’re familiar with water filters, you might be wondering: do water filters remove fluoride? It is a good question, because many of them don’t. If fluoride elimination is your goal, you’ll need to be careful when selecting your water filter to make sure it actually gets rid of the fluoride. Fortunately, a wide variety of options exist for getting the fluoride from your water. Everything from fluoride filtering pitchers, to reverse osmosis systems, even shower water filters ideal for getting the fluoride out of your bathing water.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at some of these different options to help you sort out the best solution to rid your water supply of fluoride.

APEC 5-Stage Reverse Osmosis Fluoride Water Filter (~$200 on Amazon.com)

This APEC Reverse Osmosis system might be a bit of overkill if you just want to get fluoride out of your water and aren’t concerned with any other contaminants. However, if you are looking for the purest drinking water available from your tap, a system like this 5-stage reverse osmosis and filtration system might be the way to go. Removing 99% of contaminants such as lead, arsenic, viruses, bacteria, heavy metals, and of course fluoride, systems like the APEC represent one of the most sure fire ways to make certain whatever comes out of the faucet is high quality drinking water.

Those with prior plumbing experience might find hooking up the APEC to be a breeze, but for less handy consumers it will likely require professional (or a willing family handy man) to get it hooked up and installed properly. It can easily fit under most sinks.

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If a full system requiring installation like the APEC is a bit too much of an investment for your needs, our next option will help you get rid of fluoride on the cheap.

Clearly Filtered Fluoride Filtering Water Pitcher (~$75 on Amazon.com)

We’ve looked at the Clearly Filtered Filtering Water Pitcher before here at Hydration Anywhere (read the full review here,) and now we get the chance to highlight it again. This filtering pitcher is one of few on the market that effectively removes fluoride (over 90%.) Many cheaper models of filtering pitcher often actually advertise their leaving in of “beneficial fluoride,” so be careful if you decide on a filtering pitcher model other than this Clearly Filtered.

At about $75, it might be one of the cheaper and most reliable ways to eliminate fluoride from your drinking water. Plus, from first hand experience, I can say the water filtered through my Clearly Filtered Filtering Pitcher is always delicious.

Big Berkey BK4X2-BB Big Berkey Gravity Water Filter Removes Fluoride (~$288 on Amazon.com)

This Big Berkey is another item we’ve touched on before (in our look at the best gravity water filters.) One of the neat things about this Berkey is its interchangeable filters, which allow you to configure what it is filtering by switching out the different available replacement filters from Berkey. In the one linked above, the system is equipped with 2 fluoride filters and 2 general purpose “black” Berkey filters.

A neat system which does not rely on any external power source, the Berkey draws water through its filters with gravity alone and produces some astoundingly tasty and high quality water. Ideal for off the grid locations, camping trips, emergency situations, or just having your own personal supply of un-fluoridated water just a button press away.

Apex Shower Filter System for Fluoride, Hard Water, Chlorine, and Chloramine Removal (~$55 on Amazon.com)

If you are concerned with the quality of the water in your shower, or just can’t handle the idea of being in contact with fluoride, this shower filter might be just the ticket to kick fluoride out of your bathroom instead of your kitchen. Easily attaching to the shower head, this Apex filtration system filters a variety of compounds out before the water ever hits your body, potentially bringing with it benefits for the health of the skin, although these claims have not been proven.

Finding the Best Filter For Your Needs

The filters we have pointed out here are some exceptional options for removing fluoride from your drinking water supply or even from your shower water. However, we have really just scratched the surface for water filters that remove fluoride available on the market. Whenever you select a filter, be sure to look into what contaminants are filtered by it. It should be very clearly listed along with the product advertising – if not, it should be available in the manual, which you can often pull up with a quick Google search.

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If you cannot readily find this information when researching a filter to buy, don’t buy it! Move along. Contaminant profiles should be clearly disclosed by all filter manufacturers. Make sure you know what your filter does and does not filter! Otherwise you could end up with a useless filter which might solve someone else’s problem but still leave your water full of fluoride (or whatever contaminant you want to get rid of.)

Understanding which contaminants are causing taste, odor, or health concerns in your water is the vital first step to knowing what kind of filter you need. Learn how to identify contaminants and test for water quality in our How To Test Water Quality At Home article.

Conclusion

Hopefully this brief look at some of the different fluoride removing water filters has given you some insight into what you look for, or helped you along in your decision to remove or keep fluoride in your water supply. We don’t lean one way or the other here at Hydration Anywhere, so we have attempted to present the fluoridation debate equally.

But we’d love to continue the discussion! Please drop us a line in the comments with your thoughts on water fluoridation, and we’ll be sure to reply and see if we can add to the great fluoridation debate right here on Hydration Anywhere. Thanks for reading!

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Want to get the fluoride out of your water? Use our helpful guide to navigate the best options on the market.