NOTE: This post originated as a 8 Feb 2011 email that I sent to friends and family. I have adjusted the date on this blog post to match the original email and made some minor edits.
Folks,
I thought you might be interested in the results of my lunchtime research. Looks to me like we were right about our apparent dishwasher performance issues being caused by the elimination of phosphates from dishwasher detergent.
To my simple mind, this tells me that one either needs “soft” (i.e. low concentration of calcium and mineral ions) water or phosphates to achieve good detergent performance.
Dishes Still Dirty? Blame Phosphate-Free Detergent
This is probably the best overall summary that I came across during my quick Google search. The experiences described herein are almost exactly what I’ve encountered. Dramatic dropoff in dishwasher performance – troubleshooting by the perplexed homeowner -no identifiable problems – arrgghh!
This story also includes a potential solution that I intend to try. The frustrated housewife in the story (Sandra Young) “bought some trisodium phosphate at a hardware store”. FYI, hardware stores sell TSP to prep walls prior to painting.
Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) Wikipedia entry
Although it is somewhat dated, I found that the following paper really helped me understand why phosphates are good for cleaning and maybe not so good for the environment. It makes a clear connection between “hard” (i.e. high in calcium and magnesium ions) water and poor detergent performance and explains how phosphates rode to the rescue.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE PHOSPHATE DETERGENT CONFLICT
Here are some additional articles on the subject.
Clean dishes vs. reduced water pollution
Phosphate detergent ban seems to be working
This story just ended up making me mad when I read “What flows into the river from the plant likely isn’t affected much by the new law because treatment pulls out much of the phosphorus…” What!?!?!? If standard waste water treatment removes most of the phosphorus then why the ban???
Soap Phosphate Ban Begins July 1
Bubble Bandits Defy Dishwashing Soap Ban
I remember reading “bubble bandit” stories a couple of years ago. I thought they were funny. Then they came for MY phosphate!
Shawn