CONSUMER PRODUCT ALERT AND UPDATE

As you are aware, your wastewater treatment system relies on beneficial bacteria to treat the water. Use of antiseptic, disinfectant or antibiotic products can kill off or effect these helpful bacteria, seriously reducing your treatment system’s effectiveness. The results can be for example; smelly and cloudy water, or high sludge levels.

Recent research we have undertaken has identified a number of newer chemicals common to a range of cleaners and personal care products. A number of these products are labeled as “eco-friendly”. These chemicals are however antiseptic/disinfectants and may seriously effect the operation of you wastewater treatment system. We recommend that you check the fine print on the labels carefully and stop or severely limit use of these types of products, particularly if your system is having or has had, significant treatment process problems or Council test failures.

The New Suspects Are:

Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone are preservatives used in a wide range of liquid personal care, cosmetic and laundry products. They kill bacteria, yeast and fungi. They are also used in glue production, detergents, paints and fuels. When the two chemicals are used together they are commonly listed under the registered trade name Kathon CG. They can be found in a range of Earth Choice products, Fruits and other shampoos, body and hand washes of a number different brands, also some dishwashing detergents. Remember, check the fine print on the label.

See the following web sites for further information.
http://www.fact-index.com/m/me/methylchloroisothiazolinone.html
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=chem&id=91

Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a detergent, with antibiotic effects. It is used in personal sanitary products for example body wash products and as a conditioning agent in shampoos.

The Old Suspects (we knew about)

Chloroxylenol is the main constituent of Dettol, it is an antiseptic and disinfectant. Found mainly in products listing Dettol as an ingredient, but may also be in other liquid personal products.

Oxygen or Active Oxygen compounds, added to a range of cleaning, dishwasher, shower gel/liquid and laundry products. These are generally the same compounds (sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate) as found in Oxygen Bleach soakers, of various brands. Optical brighteners or fluoresces, are commonly also added to washing powders to make your ‘whites whiter’ and your ‘coloureds brighter’.

Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, sometimes listed as BKC, commonly found in household disinfectants and toilet cleaners. Quaternary Ammonium Compounds are also found in fabric softeners.

Do I Have To Stop Using All Of These Products?

Well, the results of using them are accumulative. Continued and frequent use of even small amounts of products containing these chemicals will likely result in reduced performance or even significant problems with the operation of your wastewater treatment system.

Occasional use (e.g. once a week) of one of these products, containing one of these chemicals, may not have much of an effect on your treatment system. Use of two or more, once or more a week increases the risk of treatment system problems. However, daily use of one or more products containing one or more of these chemicals, will likely effect your treatment system.

For systems suffering major treatment process problems, elimination of these chemicals and a ‘restart’ of the system involving a complete pump out and start of an EM® beneficial bacterial additive program may be recommended (contact us for details). There is no point starting any bacterial additive treatment program until the cause of the problem(s) in your treatment system is identified and if possible, eliminated.

Bacterial additive products will not correct, remedy or cover up the use of strong (e.g. Chlorine bleach, Domestos) or milder products containing disinfectant/antiseptic/antibacterial chemicals. If you have any other questions please contact us.