In article ,
Gerald Miller wrote:

On Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:22:42 -0400, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:

In article ,
Ned Simmons wrote:

On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 22:40:03 -0400, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:

In article ,
"Ed Huntress" wrote:

"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...

.....


Was this due to dishwashers, or farmers?

I'll leave that for your research to uncover. Remember, nationwide
figures
don't tell you much about individual rivers, as I've learned through
this
exercise.

Well, based on what I have already found,that 95% goes into agriculture,
I'm going with farmers.



But this says little about how much P gets into water bodies.
Virtually all the P in detergents leaves the point of use via
wastewater. The farmers' interest lies in maximizing uptake of P by
plants and minimizing loss by leaching or erosion.

All true, but farmers use tons of fertilizer, while homes use pounds of
detergent.


Keep in mind, too, that many environmental regulations are based on
percentages, and there are loopholes all over the place for people who
need
to use something that is banned, with the recognition that a few
motivated
and determined users of most troublesome chemicals are not the problem.
It's
the mass markets that are the problem.

But isn't this the key question? In other words, why chase 0.5%?

Where's this 0.5% come from?

You might wish to read the beginning of the thread. It's all there.



BTW, we found the new Cascade formulas lacking, but a generic brand
(Home 360?) from the local Hannaford works fine.

Hmm. There is a Hannaford nearby.

What I've been using is plain old Cascade plus a pinch of TSP, and this
does work.


Joe Gwinn
How big a "pinch"? I am adding about a teaspoon full - probably too
much!

I think I'm using about 1/4 teaspoon, but how much is needed will depend
on the local water, so experiment a bit.

Joe Gwinn