Fluoride in Strawberry Plains, TN
Strawberry Plains’ water fluoridation status and level, straight from the utility district’s own report — what the number means, how it stacks up against the CDC and EPA benchmarks, and what it changes (and doesn’t change) about caring for your teeth.
Yes — Strawberry Plains’ water is fluoridated. Northeast Knox Utility District (NEKUD), Strawberry Plains’ primary water provider, adjusts fluoride in the water it treats from the Holston River, and its 2024 Consumer Confidence Report puts the level at 0.66 mg/L on average (2023 data) — just below the CDC recommended 0.7 mg/L, and far below both EPA standards.
How this page works: the level below comes from NEKUD’s own published Consumer Confidence Report, not from a marketing claim or a guess. Strawberry Plains shares this system with neighboring Mascot — if your household straddles both communities, it is the same water and the same number. One honesty note up front: 0.66 mg/L is the most recent figure we could verify — it comes from the district’s 2024 report covering 2023 data, and the district’s newest report could not be text-extracted for checking, so we’re not going to dress an older number up as a current one. Fluoride is genuinely debated, and we won’t pretend otherwise — but the starting point for any honest debate is the actual number in your water, and here it is. New to the topic? Start with our full fluoride guide.
Water quality in Strawberry Plains
Curious about your tap water? Tennessee Water Authority has the full Strawberry Plains water quality guide — contaminant data, utility details, and filter recommendations.
Strawberry Plains’ fluoride, in one card
Everything on this page traces back to these facts, from NEKUD’s 2024 Consumer Confidence Report (2023 data) and CDC system records.
LEVEL Fluoride in NEKUD water
0.66 mg/L average
Range 0.61–0.76 mg/L across the year. Data year: 2023, reported in the district’s 2024 Consumer Confidence Report.
STATUS Fluoridated — adjusted
NEKUD adjusts fluoride as part of treatment. CDC records classify it as an adjusted-fluoride system since August 1980 — more than four decades, and no vote or proposal to stop was found through October 2026.
UTILITY Northeast Knox Utility District
PWSID TN0000515. Serves about 25,558 people in northeast Knox County, including Strawberry Plains and neighboring Mascot.
SOURCE Holston River
NEKUD treats water drawn from the Holston River. The fluoride is adjusted during treatment — it is not simply whatever the river happens to carry.
Area note: parts of the Strawberry Plains area are also served by Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB). KUB’s water is fluoridated too, at 0.57 mg/L on average (range 0.47–0.68 mg/L), 2025 data. Check your water bill to see which system serves your address.
How 0.66 mg/L compares
A number by itself doesn’t tell you much. Here is Strawberry Plains’ level next to the three benchmarks that matter, each labeled for exactly what it is.
| Benchmark | Level | How Strawberry Plains compares |
|---|---|---|
| Strawberry Plains (NEKUD) average, 2023 data | 0.66 mg/L | Range 0.61–0.76 mg/L across the year, per NEKUD’s 2024 Consumer Confidence Report. |
| CDC recommended level | 0.7 mg/L | Strawberry Plains runs just below this — close to the recommendation, but not at it. We won’t round it up to the target: 0.66 is 0.66. |
| EPA secondary (non-enforceable) standard | 2.0 mg/L | Strawberry Plains is well below this. The secondary standard is a guideline aimed at preventing cosmetic effects like tooth discoloration. |
| EPA enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) | 4.0 mg/L | Strawberry Plains is far below the legal limit — about one-sixth of it. |
Keep the three benchmarks straight: 0.7 mg/L is what the CDC recommends, 2.0 mg/L is a non-enforceable EPA guideline, and 4.0 mg/L is the enforceable legal ceiling. They are not interchangeable, and pages that blur them are not doing you a favor.
Not every Strawberry Plains address is on NEKUD
NEKUD is Strawberry Plains’ primary provider, but Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) also serves part of the area, and each system is its own story. KUB’s own verified level is 0.57 mg/L on average (range 0.47–0.68 mg/L), 2025 — fluoridated as well, and also just below the CDC recommendation. That is KUB’s figure, for KUB customers only. Check the name on your water bill before assuming this page’s 0.66 mg/L is your number.
Do you still need fluoride toothpaste?
Yes — and this is the point people most often get backwards.
Fluoridated drinking water is background exposure. Every glass of water bathes your teeth in a low level of fluoride, and that steady, low-level contact genuinely helps enamel resist acid. But it is a base layer, not the main event. Fluoride toothpaste delivers a much more concentrated dose directly onto the enamel, twice a day, right where decay starts — toothpaste is the main event, and the water supports it.
So even in a fluoridated community — and Strawberry Plains is one, at 0.66 mg/L (2023 data) — brush twice daily with fluoride toothpaste. If you have been skipping fluoride toothpaste because “it’s in the water anyway,” the water was never carrying that load on its own.
Fluoride and kids: the amounts matter
Young children swallow toothpaste, so the ADA’s guidance is about using the right small amount — not about avoiding fluoride toothpaste.
UNDER 3 A rice-grain smear
For children under age 3, use a smear of fluoride toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice. That tiny amount is deliberate — it protects the teeth while keeping what gets swallowed to a minimum.
AGES 3+ A pea-size amount
From age 3 up, a pea-size amount is enough. A ribbon of paste running the length of the brush is several times more than a child needs.
- Supervise brushing. An adult should be watching (and helping) until a child can reliably spit and rinse on their own.
- Teach spitting, not swallowing. Spit the toothpaste out when done; swallowing it as a habit is what the small amounts are designed to guard against.
- Don’t load the brush. More paste does not mean cleaner teeth — it mostly means more swallowed.
What about fluoride varnish at the dentist?
An in-office fluoride treatment or varnish is a much stronger, targeted dose than anything in tap water or toothpaste.
At Strawberry Plains’ 0.66 mg/L (2023 data) — right near the CDC recommended level — varnish remains worthwhile for people at higher cavity risk: kids with recent cavities, and adults with dry mouth, braces, exposed tooth roots, or a pattern of new decay. For them, the water’s base layer plus toothpaste may still not be the whole defense, and varnish puts fluoride exactly where a clinician can see it’s needed.
Honesty cuts the other way too: if your cavity risk is low, it’s reasonable to ask your dentist to walk you through your risk before a treatment. In either direction, the decision should be explained, not automatic — and nobody should sell you a treatment by scaring you about your tap water.
On a private well? None of this applies automatically
Well water is not adjusted by any utility
Nobody adds fluoride to a private well — or tests it, unless you do. Well water may carry naturally occurring fluoride, almost none, or more than you’d expect, and taste won’t tell you. Around Strawberry Plains’ rural edges, a home can sit near a NEKUD main and not be connected to it. Test your well water if you’re unsure what’s in it, and tell your dentist you’re on well water so your fluoride plan is built on your actual water, not the district’s.
How to confirm Strawberry Plains’ level yourself
Don’t take our word for it — the primary sources are public.
- Read NEKUD’s newest Consumer Confidence Report. The 2024 Consumer Confidence Report (PDF) is the report we verified: fluoride at 0.66 mg/L on average (range 0.61–0.76 mg/L), covering 2023 data. A new report comes out each year; the newest one is the one to trust.
- Check CDC’s My Water’s Fluoride. The CDC’s system-by-system tracker at nccd.cdc.gov/DOH_MWF lists fluoridation status and levels for community water systems, including NEKUD (TN0000515) — and it’s where the district’s adjusted-fluoride status dating to August 1980 is recorded.
- Check whose name is on your bill. If your bill names KUB instead of NEKUD, KUB’s report governs your tap — not this page’s 0.66 mg/L.
For the bigger picture — how fluoridation works, the arguments on both sides, and how to think about filters — see our full fluoride guide.
Questions people actually ask
Asked the way people actually ask them — answered from the sources cited below.
Yes. Strawberry Plains' primary water provider, Northeast Knox Utility District (NEKUD), adjusts the fluoride in the water it treats from the Holston River. NEKUD's 2024 Consumer Confidence Report, covering 2023 data, reports fluoride at 0.66 mg/L on average, with a range of 0.61–0.76 mg/L. CDC records classify NEKUD as an adjusted-fluoride system going back to August 1980.
It is just below the target. The CDC recommended level is 0.7 mg/L, and NEKUD's 0.66 mg/L average (2023 data) sits slightly under it. It is nowhere near the EPA limits — the enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) is 4.0 mg/L and the secondary (non-enforceable) standard is 2.0 mg/L. Brushing with fluoride toothpaste covers the rest of what your teeth need.
Not necessarily. Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) also serves part of the Strawberry Plains area, and each system sets its own level. KUB's own verified figure is 0.57 mg/L on average, range 0.47–0.68 mg/L (2025) — also fluoridated, just a touch lower. Check the name on your water bill — that utility's report is the one that governs your tap.
Yes. Fluoridated drinking water is background exposure — it bathes your teeth in a low level of fluoride through the day, which helps, but it does not replace the concentrated fluoride that toothpaste delivers directly to the enamel while you brush. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, and treat the water as a helpful base layer, not the whole defense.
The ADA's guidance: for children under age 3, use a smear of fluoride toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice. For ages 3 and up, a pea-size amount is enough. Supervise brushing, teach your child to spit the toothpaste out rather than swallow it, and remember that more paste on the brush does not mean cleaner teeth — the small amounts are deliberate, because young kids swallow some no matter what.
No utility fluoridates private well water — nobody adjusts it at all. Well water can contain some naturally occurring fluoride, a lot, or almost none, and you cannot tell by taste. If your home is on a well, have the water tested before assuming anything about its fluoride level, and tell your dentist you are on well water so your fluoride plan reflects it.
Sources & method
- Northeast Knox Utility District, 2024 Consumer Confidence Report (2023 data) — fluoride average 0.66 mg/L, range 0.61–0.76 mg/L; system TN0000515; Holston River source; cms.utilitydistrict.com/nekud.com/Documents/2024 CCR NEKUD.pdf. This is the most recent figure we could verify; the district’s newest report PDF could not be text-extracted for checking.
- CDC — recommended fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L for community water systems; CDC Fluoridation Census records classify NEKUD as an adjusted-fluoride system since August 1980, and fluoridation status and levels are tracked in CDC’s My Water’s Fluoride (nccd.cdc.gov/DOH_MWF). No cessation vote or proposal affecting NEKUD was found through October 2026.
- EPA — enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 4.0 mg/L and secondary (non-enforceable) standard of 2.0 mg/L for fluoride in drinking water.
- American Dental Association (ADA) — children’s toothpaste amounts: a rice-grain smear under age 3, a pea-size amount at ages 3 and up, with supervised brushing.
- Knoxville Utilities Board (neighboring system) — KUB’s own verified average of 0.57 mg/L, range 0.47–0.68 mg/L (2025) applies to KUB customers in the Strawberry Plains area only.
Method in one line: Strawberry Plains’ level comes from the utility district’s own published report, with the data year kept attached to the figure everywhere it appears. Neighboring systems are described only at the level their own reporting supports. We never name, rank, or recommend private dental practices.