Florida Cities That Have Stopped Adding Fluoride to Water: The List So Far

When Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo emerged as a candidate for U.S. surgeon general under President Donald Trump, he went all in to appeal to the conservative medical freedom community to garner support.

In November, he staged a press conference in Winter Haven, urging Florida municipalities to stop fluoridating their water supplies. He called fluoridation a "public health malpractice," repeating U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s claims that fluoride lowers IQ levels and increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disease in children.

Soon thereafter, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) issued a "community water guidance" across the state to recommend that local governments end water fluoridation because of the "risks" it poses to young children and pregnant women.

"Adding fluoride to water increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disease in children and reduces their IQ," Ladapo wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "We can strengthen teeth without consuming this neurotoxin. The data are consistent, adding fluoride to our communities' water must stop."

X added some context under Ladapo's post.

"None of the attached studies found any statistically significant correlation between fluoride of water and any variable relating to cognition or IQ," the community note reads.

Despite the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifying the practice as one of the ten great public health interventions of the 20th Century for improving the population's dental health, anti-fluoride activists like Kennedy and Ladapo argue that fluoride is dangerous to young children. After extensive scientific research, health officials have found that 0.7 milligrams of the naturally occurring mineral is not unsafe.

Meanwhile, the anti-fluoride movement has gained traction in states around the country. Lawmakers in Arkansas, Utah, Georgia, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Tennessee have filed bills to either ban fluoridation or end mandates that require the mineral in the public water supply.

While communities around the country have been adding fluoride for decades, some states do not require fluoride in their drinking water. New Jersey, Oregon, and Hawaii have the lowest fluoridation rates in the country. For example, only 16 percent of New Jersey's population had fluoridated water in 2022.

According to the FDOH, over 70 percent of Floridians have fluoridated drinking water.

Given Ladapo's war on fluoride, several local governments have decided to stop adding the naturally occurring mineral to their public water supplies. Here is the growing list:

Collier County
Fort Pierce
Lakeland
Lee County
Longwood
Melbourne
Naples
Ormond Beach
Palm Bay
Port St. Lucie
St. Lucie County
Stuart
Tavares
Winter Haven

Although anti-fluoride activists are gaining momentum in cities across the Sunshine State, the City of Leesburg in central Florida voted in December to move forward with its plans to add community fluoridation.

The Florida Department of Public Health maintains a list of public water systems that fluoridate their water. Here is that list, which was last updated on January 24, 2025:

Alachua: Alachua Water Treatment Plant
Alachua: GRU - Murphree Water Treatment Plant
Bay: Bay County Water System
Brevard: City of Cocoa
Brevard: City of Titusville
Broward: Broward County Water and Wastewater (1a)
Broward: Broward County Water and Wastewater (2a)
Broward: City of Dania Beach
Broward: City of Deerfield Beach
Broward: Cooper City
Broward: City of Coral Springs
Broward: Coral Springs Improvement District
Broward: Town of Davie
Broward: Fern Crest Utilities, Inc.
Broward: City of Fort Lauderdale
Broward: City of Hallandale Beach
Broward: Town of Hillsboro Beach
Broward: City of Hollywood
Broward: City of Lauderhill
Broward: City of Margate
Broward: Miramar (East and West)
Broward: City of North Lauderdale
Broward: City of Pembroke Pines
Broward: Plantation East and Central
Broward: City of Pompano Beach
Broward: Sunrise Sawgrass
Broward: Sunrise Springtree
Broward: City of Tamarac
Broward: Royal Waterworks, Inc.
Broward: Parkland Utilities, Inc.
Broward: Sunrise Southwest
Broward: North Springs Improvement District
Citrus: City of Crystal River
Citrus: Inverness Water Department
Collier: Immokalee Water
Escambia: Emerald Coast Utilities Authority
Gadsden: City of Quincy
Hendry: City of Labelle
Highlands: Sebring Water and Sewer System
Hillsborough: City of Plant City Utility
Hillsborough: City of Tampa Water Department
Hillsborough: HCPUD/Northwest Utilities
Hillsborough: HCPUD/South-Central
Hillsborough: City of Temple Terrace Utility
Indian River: City of Vero Beach
Indian River: Indian River County Utilities
Lake: City of Eustis
Lake: Umatilla Water Works
Lee: City of Fort Myers Water Treatment Plant
Lee: Lee County Utilities
Leon: City of Tallahassee
Manatee: City of Bradenton
Manatee: Manatee County Utilities Department
Marion: City of Ocala
Miami-Dade: City of Hialeah
Miami-Dade: City of Homestead
Miami-Dade: MDWASA - Main System
Miami-Dade: City of North Miami
Miami-Dade: North Miami Beach
Monroe: FKAA J. Robert Dean Water Treatment Plant
Okaloosa: City of Niceville
Orange: City of Maitland
Orange: City of Ocoee
Orange: Orlando Utilities Commission
Orange: City of Winter Park
Orange: OCUD/Western Regional Water System
Orange: OCUD/Southern Water System
Orange: OCUD/Eastern Water System
Osceola: TOHO Water Authority Eastern
Osceola: TOHO Water Authority Western
Osceola: City of St. Cloud
Osceola: Harmony CDD
Osceola: TOHO Water Authority - Poinciana System
Osceola: TWA Sunbridge Water Treatment Plant
Palm Beach: Wellington Water Treatment Plant
Palm Beach: Delray Beach Public Water System
Palm Beach: West Palm Beach Water Treatment Plant
Palm Beach: Palm Beach County Water Utilities
Palm Beach: Lake Region Water Treatment Plant
Pasco: New Port Richey Water Department
Pinellas: Dunedin Water System
Pinellas: Pinellas County Utilities
Pinellas: Oldsmar Water System
Pinellas: City of St. Petersburg
Polk: City of Auburndale
Polk: City of Bartow
Polk: City of Lake Alfred
Polk: City of Lakeland
Polk: City of Haines City
Seminole: Altamonte Springs Water Department
Seminole: City of Lake Mary
Seminole: City of Longwood
Seminole: City of Sanford
Seminole: Seminole County Northeast
Seminole: Seminole County Southeast
Seminole: Seminole County Southwest
Seminole: City of Oviedo
Seminole: Seminole County Northwest
Suwannee: Live Oak Water Treatment Plant
Suwannee: Suwannee Correctional Institute
Volusia: City of Daytona Beach
Volusia: City of Deland
Volusia: City of Holly Hill
Volusia: City of New Smyrna Beach
Volusia: City of Port Orange