Hi, Russ and other forum members:

In order to remove fluorides you need a filter with an ion-exchange resin.
However, how do you know if it does the job and when it is time to replace / reactivate it?
Ion-exchange resins can be overloaded by other ions, which are plentiful in water and either harmless or considerably less toxic than fluorides.
So you end up paying big bucks and yet the effectiveness of it is quesionable, primarily because THERE IS NO EASY WAY to determine if the ion-exchange bed needs reactivation.
When it is fresh, it would do the job, no question, but what happens six months down the road? Do you unload another few hundred dollars or do you trust the manufacturer's claim that it can be used for 2 years (or whatever they claim)?
Let's not forget that mineral content in water is very much different from region to region. In some areas you cannot soap up your hands, it is so hard, in other areas you need to stay in a shower an extra few min, as you feel "soapy", the water is so soft.

I know one family, they had a 3000-dollar system installed (about 2200 US$) in the house.
IMHO that is tremendous waste, as it filters everything, even the WATER FOR THE TOILET TANK and the laundry machine!
It is hard to imagine that reasonable people would go for that!

In industrial/ laboratory settings they go by the prescribed maintenance schedule and a few hundred dollars is a small change for them.
There are prescribed procedures for ion-exchange bed reactivation, they call the service people and get it done.
But who can afford all that for his household?

Don't get me wrong, ion-exchange resin DOES REMOVE fluorides, but for how long can you hope to use it?
A couple assay tests would buy you another such filter, so that is definitely out of question.

IMHO the least expensive and safe way to filter drinking water is to use "reverse osmosis" for bacteria and viruses with a removable cartridge.
Then run that water through a carbon filter, maybe more than once, or buy 2-3 table-top filters. And then add soluble calcium salt, as described in my other post (Simple and easy way to neutralize fluorides)

Here is a rather remarkable example of how misleading can be the claims of those who claim they know:
it is from
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/removefluoride.htm
>>>Reverse Osmosis Filtration
This is used to purify several types of bottled water (not all), so some bottled waters are unfluoridated. Reverse osmosis systems are generally unaffordable for personal use.<<<

Any book on laboratory chemistry would tell you that "rev osmosis" removes only about 10% of ionized impurities.
And yet this "pro" claims it is different!
Besides, a "rev osmosis" cartridge, which can be attached to a tap is only about 120-150 US. So it is perfectly affordable for household use. However, I would only use it for bacteria and viruses.
As for the specific product brands, do a seach for "fluoride removal", lots of entries pop up

regards: Oleg