Phosphates in Water Pollution

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…to overcome the disastrous effects of phosphates is to find an alternate. However, an acceptable substitute for phosphates has not yet been found. Washing only with synthetic detergents would require so much detergent that the cost per wash would increase significantly. Another alternative is the substitution of synthetic nonionic detergents for ionic detergents in use. Nonionic detergents are not precipitated by Calcium of Magnesium ions. This would reduce the risk contaminating our lakes and rivers.