Ways to Remove Fluoride and other chemicals from Water

Three of the most simple methods of doing so are by Reverse Osmosis, Distillation and Activated Alumina Defluoridation. The first two methods are excellent for water purification in general though one must add supplements to distilled water, due to it's lack of minerals it is potentially unsafe to drink in large quantities. A fourth manner is by use of Bone Char Carbon which is 90% effective, this method is best used in tandem with other purification techniques. Before we get into the detailed specifics of each individual method, here are two short articles on this very same subject.

"Here is a list of ways to obtain drinking water without fluoride. In addition, I've listed water purification methods which do not remove fluoride from water."
http://www.chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/removefluoride.htm

"To top it all off, fluoride is difficult to remove from water. Most water filter sales literature avoids the subject. When buying a water filter, you may be comforted by reading that the system you are purchasing removes 95 to 99% of contaminants, but if it does not specifically state that it removes fluoride, you can bet it doesn’t. Fluoride is a very small ion (atomic number 9). It cannot be “filtered” out of water."
http://www.dancingwithwater.com/articles/how-to-remove-fluoride-from-water/


Reverse Osmosis

"Reverse osmosis is now used in medicine and industry as a means of purifying or separating water and other solvents from other components. In recent years, it has been used increasingly for making pure water for dialysis in hospitals and for producing Water for Injection."
http://freshlysqueezedwater.org.uk/waterarticle_reverseosmosis.php

Create your own reverse osmosis systems.
http://www.diyreverseosmosis.com/

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/build-your-own-reverse-osmosis-system.html


Water Distillation

"Distillation is a process that relies on evaporation to purify water. Contaminated water is heated to form steam. Inorganic compounds and large non-volatile organic molecules do not evaporate with the water and are left behind. The steam then cools and condenses to form purified water.

Distillation is most effective in removing inorganic compounds such as metals (iron and lead) and nitrate; hardness (calcium and magnesium); and particulates from a contaminated water supply. The boiling process also kills microorganisms such as bacteria and some viruses. The effectiveness of distillation in removing organic compounds varies, depending on such chemical characteristics of the organic compound as solubility and boiling point. Organic compounds that boil at temperatures greater than the boiling point of water (some pesticides) can be effectively removed from the water. Organic compounds that boil at temperatures lower than the boiling point of water (ex., benzene and toluene) will be vaporized along with the water. If these harmful compounds are not removed prior to condensation, they will recontaminate the purified product."
http://www.msue.msu.edu/objects/content_revision/download.cfm/revision_id.499682/workspace_id.-4/01500609.html/

Can You Drink Distilled Water?
http://www.chemistry.about.com/od/waterchemistry/f/Can-You-Drink-Distilled-Water.htm

Some very simple manners of distilling water
http://www.preparedforthat.com/diy-how-to-distill-water-at-home/

Distilling water at home with step by step pictures
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Distilled-Water


Bone Char Carbon

"Bone char is a granular material produced by charring animal bones: the bones are heated to high temperatures (in the range of 400 to 500 °C) in an oxygen-depleted atmosphere to control the quality of the product as related to its adsorption capacity for applications such as defluoridation of water and removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions."
http://www.reade.com/products/160-phosphate-compounds-powder/9746-bone-char-bone-black-ivory-black-animal-bone-charcoal-animal-charcoal-bone-charcoal-bone-ash-abaiser-bone-black-6-bone-charcoal-ci-pigment-black-9-cas-98615-67-9

Due to the nature of decomposing organic matter, the difficulty in acquiring so many bones and the intense heat required to create this product, we would much rather recommend purchasing this material than trying to make it yourself.

Bone Char Charcoal
http://www.buyactivatedcharcoal.com/bone_charcoal


Activated Alumina

Activated Alumina: The Superior Solution for Environmental Cleanup, Pharmaceutical Purification and Clean Energy Applications

"Activated alumina is an inorganic substance produced by the dehydration of alumina hydroxide at high temperature. The material is highly porous and exhibits tremendous surface area, resulting in superior adsorbent capabilities. It is resistant to thermal shock and abrasion and does not shrink, swell, soften or disintegrate when immersed in water.

Alumina possesses amphoteric properties allowing it to act as either an acid or a base. The ability to alter its pore or particle size provides it with a spectrum of unique biological and physical properties that can address specific desiccant and/or separating needs for the life and environmental sciences."
www.dynamicadsorbents.com/environmentalcleanupwithalumina.pdf

This link is an example of buying Activated Alumina canister filters. Though this may seem like a hefty price to pay for a water filter this is the source website to a very large manufacturer, meaning this is actually pretty cheap.
https://www.afwfilters.com/20-big-blue-systems/20-single-canister-big-blue-activated-alumina-whole-house-filter-606.html

An example of buying Activated Alumina without canisters in bulk.
http://www.deltaadsorbents.com/activated-alumina-desiccant-f200/t101c15.aspx