Christian McArdle wrote:
This is why DW tablets with "salt action" don't make much sense.

This is marketing speak, as they believe that the general populace is too
thick to realise how it works.

The tablets contain phosphates that attempt to reduce the worst effects of
hard water. However, they prefer to call this "salt action", so that people
equate it with putting salt in the softener. Of course, it can't be anywhere
near as effective as a proper ion-exchange softener, so you should continue
to put salt in the chamber.

Christian.

And the phosphates contribute to eutrophication. After having
radically reduced the amount of phosphate in laundry detergent to
improve river and lake water quality, it's now being put back in again
by increasing usage of phosphate based dishwasher detergent. It's mad.

Is also a darn sight more expensive than the older method of salt +
detergent + rinse aid. Also, on most dishwashers, you can minimise the
usage of salt by setting the dispenser for the appropriate amount
depending on your water hardness. The three-in-1 tablets cater for
near-on the worst case, and so most people will be dumping an excess of
phosphate into the drain that they didn't need to. It's Calgon all
over again.

Sigh.

Sid