5 years ago detergent manufacturers removed phosphates from their formulas because the theory was it was going through the environment hurting stuff, so they did it voluntarily before the EPA could do it for them. This made detergents not really work any more.
Then about a year ago I was reading that years after the ban, phosphate levels in rivers and shit weren't going down. Now I can't find that article, and google and bing don't show me anything related to the phosphate ban more recent than 2010. What the hell. There must have been SOMETHING written about it since then.