It’s probably not your dishwasher! The appliance repair experts at 911 Service Today come across this issue frequently in North Charleston. The culprit is often your automatic dishwasher detergent… Beginning in mid-2010, many states (about 17) passed laws that limit the phosphate content in dishwasher detergents (from as high as 8.7% to about 0.5%). As a result, the manufacturers reformulated their products to comply with the new laws, making retail distribution nationwide easier. By the way, hand-wash detergents and clothes detergents are already phosphate-free.
What is phosphate? They’re the tiny particles formerly added to soap that suspend hard water particles in your water so they don’t stick to your dishes. The resulting softened water makes the soap suds up without leaving a film behind. The result? Everything comes out squeaky clean! (By the way, your dishwasher stays cleaner, too!)
So, why would anyone start a movement to remove these little wonders from our soaps?
Well, it goes something like this… The phosphates are great for our
dishes, but not so great for our freshwater bodies. The discharge from sewage treatment plants sends them back out into the world where they end up in our lakes, bays, and streams, causing a raucous! Algae think they’re delicious and eat them up, causing an algae bloom. Good for the algae, but not so great for the fish, who die from a lack of oxygen. Phosphorous pollution can be attributed to multiple sources, and while dishwasher detergents contribute just a fraction, many feel that any reduction is a change for the better.
But…what about our dirty dishes? The good news is that detergent manufacturers have been working to create better soaps, which will soon reach the shelves of North Charleston supermarkets. While most new detergents cannot match the performance of products with higher amounts of phosphates, some are better than others. So, don’t replace your dishwasher! Better dishwasher detergents are on the way!
