Fluoride is gone but not forgotten.
On Monday night, city council will receive an update from engineering and public works general manager Dave Dyer about the status of the city's now-defunct fluoride injection system.
The system was turned off following city council's vote on Dec. 15 to abide by the results of the Nov. 15 referendum where nearly 54 per cent of voters expressed opposition to the continued addition of fluoride to the city's drinking water.
"Residual fluoride in the city's distribution system was monitored by sampling the drinking water and by Dec. 22, 2014, the results from the last samples were at a level of naturally occurring fluoride in Prince George's groundwater," said Dyer's report.
By the beginning of March, the injection equipment was removed from the four water pump stations.
However the material itself, 9,300 litres of fluorosilicic acid, remains in holding tanks at the pump stations.
Fluorosilicic acid is toxic when stored in bulk concentrations and needs to be removed and neutralized by a specialized professional.
It will cost an estimated $140,000 to remove the acid from the tanks and once the product is removed and disposed of, it will cost another estimated $60,000 to remove the holding tanks, which need to be physically cut out.
