When Joel Houghton (1850 –handheld dishwasher) and Josephine Cochrane (1887-modern dishwasher) started invented the dishwasher, all they wanted was to help the homemakers with the exhausting chore of washing dirty dishes by hand. Before the dishwasher was patented, there were manual dishwashers who were called kitchen porters, kitchen police, pan-drivers, and dish-pigs. They used hand washing detergent for the dishes they handled. When the dawn of the modern dishwasher came, the dishwashing detergent was used. With modern dishwashers and septic systems, sand mound safe dishwasher detergents were also invented. Remember, you should not use the hand washing soaps in a dishwashing machine because they produce more suds than the dishwashing detergents and can over load the machine.
Since contemporary dishwashers are now almost in every home, it is a fact that the dishwasher is often connected to the sand mound system (or any type of septic system that the homeowner has). This again brings up the matter sand mound safe dishwasher detergents. Technically, dishwasher detergents are not a problem for your sand mound. They are usually diluted when they end up in the sand mound system. Ideally, sand mound dishwasher detergents should produce very little soap suds. If you accidentally used hand washing detergent in your dishwasher, this will produce excessive suds as the dishwashing process takes place. The suds can leak out of the dishwasher onto the floor. When this happens, you should spray salt solution into the dishwasher and then drain it. This will remove the excessive suds from the dishwasher.
If you’re going out to buy sand mound safe dishwasher detergents, you should prioritize those with low or no surfactants and low or no phosphates. This is more for the benefit of the surrounding water systems into which these chemical compounds drain. Sadly, no matter how little the surfactant or phosphate content of these sand mound safe dishwasher detergents, they still contaminate the ponds, streams, lakes, and rivers. Surfactants enter the body systems of the fishes that live in those aquatic environments and stop their gills from absorbing dissolved oxygen from the water. Phosphates excessively increase the algal population in the water systems. As you may already know, algae function both as animals and plants so they consume oxygen as well. Eutrophication takes place as the algae deplete the water systems of the dissolved oxygen. The water systems are then left as dead zones because of surfactants and phosphates.
It’s the water load that you have to worry about when you use your dishwasher. Increased water load happens when you use your dishwasher and washing machine at the same time or during heavy rains. The sudden flow of grey water stirs up the sludge in the sand mound tank and the solid particles disperse into the soil absorption system to clog it. Eventually, the system fails. It is highly recommended that you have a dry well installed to accommodate the grey water and help the sand mound system with the smooth process of wastewater treatment.
There are many sand mound safe dishwasher detergents that are helped by rinse aid. Rinse aid also contains surfactants that prevent the droplet marks from forming on the dishes. It also helps the dishes dry faster. But as much as possible, try to stay away from dishwashing aids that contain surfactants. It would be much better for you to spend a bit more on biodegradable sand mound safe dishwasher detergents so that you could use your dishwasher as you protect the environment.
To make sure that your sand mound system functions optimally even when you use your dishwasher, you should always remember to keep your responsibilities in properly using the sand mound itself. Here are some of them:
- Never use antibacterial hand soaps and corrosive chemicals that destroy bacteria and the physical components of the sand mound
- Always adhere to pump out schedules. Talk to your septic expert for a regular pumping out schedule.
- Remove hardwood plants from the sand mound area. They have invasive roots that damage or clog the system.
- Divert the rain gutter away from the sand mound to decrease water load during heavy rains.
Always choose sand mound safe dishwasher detergent. Take note that biodegradable products are the best and have the least impact on septic tanks and sand mound systems.