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Greener Dishwashing: A Farewell to Phosphates

Nov. 13, 2010 - The Spokane river had a soap-scum problem. Runoff from the region's dishwashers was loaded with phosphorus, which helped get glasses and plates sparkling clean but was also fueling the growth of algae, which, in turn, were making Washington State's waterways an icky green. Besides repelling swimmers, the algae were sucking up so much oxygen they were suffocating other aquatic life. Experts estimated that as much as a third of the phosphorus at wastewater-treatment facilities was from dishwasher detergent. The other main phosphorus sources are fertilizer and sewage, and since farmers need fertilizer to grow crops--and since there's no easy way to get people to poop less--a group of environmentalists decided to focus on detergents. read rest}