TSP and your dishwasher

Knowing that they took Trisodium Phosphate out of automatic dishwasher detergent, it hasn't been a surprise that our dishwasher doesn't seem to get the dishes as clean using the modern stuff. I'd heard of people hoarding the old stuff, or managing to still get it somehow, but I never seem to go to the extreme of doing those things. We've gone a few years with bad results and just sucking it up; it's supposed to be bad for the streams etc. Until ....

It occurred to me that we have a septic tank. What would be the harm of re-introducing phosphates into that? Sure enough, checking the internet, other people are way ahead of me. Although it was almost taken off the shelves at one point, you can still buy TSP and the claim is adding a bit of that gets you back to original formulation. We've decided to go for it.

I add a quarter teaspoon each wash, so I refuse to worry about it being bad for the septic tank [it has to have microbes, can't kill them off]. Nobody should use much, you might get results you don't like.

I asked for Trisodium Phosphate in the paint dept. and got a blank stare. Then I said "TSP" and a light came on.

The question becomes, will the few people using it who have city sewage ever amount to enough to matter? My advice is to go for it, because I don't think so. You'll like the difference.

Hardware stores, drug stores... tsp.... Most laundry detergents were tsp plus perfumes and adjectives, so just buy the tsp and forget about brand names, advertising slogans or pretty girls on the front of the box.

tsp and water quality? Heck, phosphates may cause microflora to bloom on a lake but it takes an awful lot to do it. women through more birth control pills down the toilet than people add tsp to our water. with the over rxing of drugs alot of anti-infectious agents are added to our water supply. tsp is at the bottom of any sensible concern.