Dishwasher detergents are now lending a hand to clean water

by Brook Beeler, environmental educator, Eastern Region Office

Have you noticed? The detergent industry has changed the formula of your favorite dishwasher detergent product. Look around, now you’ll only be finding the new, low-phosphate formulas on the grocery shelves.

This change affects everybody who runs a dishwasher in their home kitchen.

So what?

Phosphorus is a water pollution problem because when it gets into our waters, it acts like a fertilizer to algae and other aquatic plants in fresh water. When these plants and organisms die, their decay uses up oxygen, suffocating our fish and other aquatic life.

And sewer treatment plants can’t remove all of the phosphorus that arrives in untreated water.

Statewide and beyond

So starting in July 1st, Spokane and Whatcom counties won’t be the only counties in Washington state to require the sale of low phosphate automatic dishwashing detergents for residential use. The new law goes into effect for all of Washington and 15 other states on July 1.

In an ongoing effort to improve water quality in our lakes, rivers, streams, and marine waters, Washington will stop the distribution and sale of dishwasher detergents that contain more than 0.5 percent phosphorus. Because soaps designed for washing dishes by hand are already phosphorus-free, the new requirement affects only soaps used in automatic dishwashers.

The Washington Legislature passed the law in 2006 and it went into effect in Spokane and Whatcom counties in July 2008.

The new limits on phosphorus in dishwasher detergent are an extension of phosphorus limits already in place for laundry detergent. By reducing phosphorus in our everyday household products, we can reduce nutrient pollution.

We’re on a roll

The Soap and Detergent Association tell us the rest of the United States and Canada are also jumping on the new low-phosphate dishwasher detergent diet!

Removing phosphorus from dishwashing detergents is just one action being taken to protect Washington’s Waters from pollution. The simplest way to reduce phosphorus in water is to not put it in there in the first place.

The other 15 states joining Washington in the move away from phosphate-laden detergents July 1, 2010 are Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Want all the details on the dishwasher detergent law? Visit our reducing phosphorus webpage. You find resources and learn how alternative products work.

---

What’s the Spokane TMDL dispute resolution process all about?

Many have heard or read that a “dispute resolution process” is under way on several different issues involving the Department of Ecology’s (Ecology) water quality improvement plan for the Spokane River. The Spokane River/Lake Spokane Dissolved Oxygen Water Quality Improvement Plan, often called the total maximum daily load (TMDL) report, will guide work toward bringing the Spokane River into compliance with water quality standards for dissolved oxygen.

Dispute resolution is an internal process that Ecology’s Water Quality Program uses to review issues that were not resolved during the TMDL development process. The dispute resolution process is initiated after all other attempts to resolve the issue have failed. It is not a formal judicial process like an appeal.

Dispute resolution panel members evaluate information presented by the disputing parties and the responding Ecology representatives, along with written comments by other affected parties. Panel members weigh the evidence presented to them and make a recommendation to the Ecology director, who has the final decision making authority.

Ecology worked for nearly 12 years on the river’s water quality improvement plan with local governments, community leaders, public works professionals, tribes, environmental organizations and more. On Feb. 12, Ecology submitted the plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval.

The standard practice for developing TMDLs involves partnership between a local community and Ecology staff members. A TMDL study uses peer-reviewed science to determine how best to clean up water pollution problems, and many times the answers are complex and could have multiple alternatives. This can sometimes lead to disagreements.

But as Ecology’s Water Quality Program Manager Kelly Susewind said, “This plan is not perfect. The river has a big pollution problem. Striving for perfection only creates more delays to cleaning up the river. We think our plan is a monumental step toward cleaning up the river.”

On February 26, 2010 Ecology received three letters from Spokane River Dissolved Oxygen TMDL stakeholders asking Ecology to initiate dispute resolution. Ecology’s Water Quality Program has a policy that spells out how the process works. Ecology set up a meeting on April 5, 2010, where the disputing parties presented their evidence and Ecology staff responded.

Stakeholders expressed concerns about the computer model that helped set discharge limits. They expressed concerns about discharge limitations in Idaho and the equity between Idaho and Washington. They also worried about financial impacts of the limitations.

Kelly Susewind pointed out that, “This is not a Washington vs. Idaho thing. There are dischargers across the country that are meeting these kinds of limits.”

These are the overall issues that the panel is looking at during dispute resolution. “This is an honest review by experts in the field who were not involved in the decisions made in the water quality improvement plan,” said Susewind. “They are people who can look at these disputes with fresh eyes and independent minds.”

The panel members were named by the Ecology director. By policy, the panel may consist of (actual names are included):
· Water Quality Program section manager from a different Ecology regional office. (Kevin Fitzpatrick, Northwest Regional Office)
· An Ecology Environmental Assessment Program section manager. (Will Kendra)
· External representative familiar with TMDLs but not involved in the dispute. (Megan White, P.E., Department of Transportation)
· Ecology director’s designee. (Deputy Director Polly Zehm)
· Ecology expert in the subject area of the dispute, but not involved in the specific issue. (Andrew Kolosseus, Water Quality Program, HQ)

Ecology has made every effort to be transparent throughout this dispute process and has posted the dispute resolution correspondence and related information
on the website.

The deadline for the Ecology director’s decision on the dispute outcomes is May 5. We plan to notify all dispute participants of the outcomes and we plan to post decision on this website. TVW will make the the oral presentation videos available on their website and a link will be posted on the dispute resolution website as soon as it is available.

---

Play it Again, Sam

A new version of the plan to control phosphorus pollution and increase oxygen in the Spokane River and Lake Spokane is ready for public review. You may be thinking we have been here before. And we have! However, substantial changes to the draft water-quality improvement plan have been made. That means we need to hear from you again.

Over the years this plan has been controversial and the subject of robust community discussion. This time around the plan has been re-worked to address community’s concerns heard during the previous public comment period. Now it’s time to take one more look.

The water quality improvement plan outlines how the community will reduce phosphorus and other substances in the Spokane River and Lake Spokane to prevent algae blooms, increased growth of aquatic plants, and the related declines in Lake Spokane’s dissolved oxygen.

Phosphorus is the primary nutrient causing excess algae and plant growth in the Spokane River and Lake Spokane. It acts like fertilizer, causing algae and other aquatic plants to grow and thrive. When the plants decompose, they use up dissolved oxygen that fish need to breathe. More algae means less oxygen.

The plan is still one of the most stringent in the country.

• It will lead to reducing phosphorus pollution from industrial and municipal pipes by more than 90 percent.
  


• The industrial and municipal “point-source” (from a pipe) dischargers are required to help reduce phosphorus from other diffuse, “non-point” sources such as farms, septic systems, animal waste, and fertilizers used at home.
  


• It provides strong incentives for investing in wise water use.
  


• Establishes a long-term monitoring program for the river and Lake Spokane.

So what is different about this plan?

• Requirements to reduce stormwater discharges.
  


• An average 66 percent reduction in the amount of phosphorus that goes into Lake Spokane during the warmer months, March to October.
  


• A plan to address the dissolved oxygen impacts for which Avista is responsible.

Take another look for yourself. The new comment runs through Oct. 14, 2009. The Spokane River/Lake Spokane Dissolved Oxygen Water Quality Improvement Plan will guide work toward a healthier Spokane River.

A public meeting is planned for 6-9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009, at the Spokane Community College’s Sasquatch Room in the Lair Building #6, 1810 N Greene St., Spokane.

You can view and download the report at: www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0710073.html

Frequently Asked Questions about the Water Quality Improvement Report:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0810028.html

Frequently Asked Questions about Effective Public Commenting: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0307023.html

London Calling

No, I am not talking about The Clash’s 1979 album. It’s literally true. Last month when news of “soap smugglers” in Spokane County hit the news wire, Ecology’s Eastern Regional Office received a media call from the BBC in London. Why all this press about soap?

Last June it became illegal to sell automatic dish detergent with more than 0.5 % phosphorus in Spokane County. You can review this law and a similar one for Whatcom County at our reducing phosphorus webpage. Frustrations began to surface when dish washers became frustrated with some of the commercially available phosphorus-free detergents. Spokane’s notoriously hard water was leaving spots and film on clean dishes. Reports started flying of Washingtonians driving to nearby Idaho to buy “hot soap”. That is when London called.

So what is the big deal? Why can’t we put the phosphorus back in the dishwashing detergent? Here’s the thing. Too much phosphorus in water can cause big pollution problems. Phosphorus in water acts as a fertilizer causing plants and algae to grow. Then when they die they rob the oxygen that fish and other critters need for survival.

Removing phosphorus from dishwashing detergents is just one action being taken to protect Washington’s Waters from pollution. The simplest way to reduce phosphorus in water is to not put it in there in the first place. Whether it goes to a wastewater treatment plant or an on-site septic system, avoiding excess phosphorus means good news for Washington’s waters.

Getting back to the “soap smugglers” – why the apparent exodus to Idaho for phosphorus-laden detergent? And what about the people that aren’t driving to Idaho – are they eating off of dirty dishes? Well, I can tell you this, some detergents perform better than others. You can visit Greener Choices, a branch of Consumer Reports that ranks these detergents on their ability to clean. They even found that some of these detergents do an “excellent” job of cleaning.

Even if you’re not in Spokane or Whatcom counties, you may want to test drive the phosphorus-free detergents, because in 2010 the law will be enacted in all of Washington. In fact, many states in the nation will be enacting laws requiring dish detergent limits on phosphorus. Detergent manufacturers are working now to change their formulations to comply with the new law and they expect to be going phosphate-free in markets nationwide.

Have you tried a phosphorus-free dish detergent? What tips do you have for cleaning dishes the phosphorus-free way?