TEXARKANA — The western Arkansas city of De Queen has received a more than $17,000 grant to cover the startup costs of adding fluoride to its water system.
The Texarkana Gazette reports Sunday that the grant comes after state legislators last year passed a law requiring water municipalities serving 5,000 or more customers to fluoridate their public water using non-taxpayer dollars.
The Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation is behind the De Queen grant. The foundation's communication manager, Kelly Caldwell, said the group realized how much fluoridated water will help dental health in Arkansas and pledged to pay the startup costs of fluoridating water systems.
The newspaper says the chemical cost to De Queen will be about $13,000 a year.