Laundry and dishwasher pods and sheets are made with or wrapped in petroleum-based plastic called polyvinyl alcohol, also called PVA or PVOH. This plastic is designed to dissolve, but it doesn’t disappear. Pods are plastic. PVA is the plastic polymer in almost all dishwasher and laundry pods and sheets. PVA is the thin plastic wrapping around pods and is woven into laundry sheets to keep them intact.

PVA is designed to dissolve, but unfortunately, it does not disappear. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 20 billion PVA-wrapped dishwashers and laundry pods are used annually. A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows that PVA does dissolve, but it doesn’t always biodegrade. More than 75% of plastic PVA particles persist in oceans, waterways and soils after they dissolve. These PVA particles then have the potential to persist in ground and surface waters.

Some PVA products will claim they are biodegradable. However, they require extremely specific conditions to break down, including the presence of certain PVA-adapted microorganisms that help break down the plastic particles and a specific amount of time needed with these microorganisms for the plastic to degrade. In most U.S. wastewater treatment plants, those microorganisms do not exist and there is not sufficient time, so the conditions for biodegradation are not met.

Additionally, biodegradation requires specific temperatures and food-to-microorganism ratios on top of the above factors. It is highly unlikely that the necessary microorganisms exist in septic systems. This could cause these plastics to accumulate in the soil treatment system or travel away from the system with the treated effluent.

ACCUMULATION RISK

Once these plastics are in the environment, they have the potential to bioaccumulate. This means PVA could carry other toxic chemicals or heavy metals up the food chain. Like other forms of plastic pollution, PVA has the potential to cause harm to the environment, plants and animals.

The other septic system-related issue with these pods is that they often contain more soap than needed. The liquid pods contain concentrated soap with significantly less water. The soap we use in our homes is designed to float up into the scum layer of the septic tank, but some of it makes its way through the system and then becomes attached to the soil.

The less soap you use in your home, the better for your septic system. Surfactants released into the soil over time can alter the soil’s physical, chemical and biological properties, particularly the saturated hydraulic conductivity. Excessive surfactants are often easy to see in aerobic treatment units due to adding air into the system. 

As the soil removes detergent surfactants through adsorption, anionic surfactants begin to accumulate in the soil. It is advisable to ensure wastewater effluent applied to the soil has low amounts of surfactant. This is harder than it seems since all the products we use in our home that create bubbles contain surfactants. 

GEL ICE PACKS

Gel ice packs have become standard for home delivery of meal kits, insulin and other products that need to stay cold. These gel packs are not all the same, so you want to check with the manufacturer to determine the appropriate disposal methods. Some companies using the packs even have programs where they take back, reuse and deal with damaged bags.

The gel in these packs is com-monly made of water and sodium polyacrylate. Sodium polyacrylate has a wide variety of commercial uses because it absorbs up to 300 times its weight in liquid. You’ll find it in diapers, for example, or pet pads. 

This material should not be poured down the drain, as it could clog the small pipes in a home plumbing system. If you are dealing with a clogged drain due to the gel being disposed of improperly, a plumber snake is the best option versus the use of chemical cleaner, which could damage the microorganisms in the septic tank.    

The best plan is to reuse them, but often, people end up with too many of them. In this case, the liquid can be dried out as it is 99% water, and the solid can be put into the garbage, or the entire contents can be placed directly into the garbage. The plastic can be recycled with other plastic bags.  

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

There are more and more products of convenience that property owners may use that could negatively impact septic systems. Educating users and understanding these challenges can assist with troubleshooting problematic systems.