The Truth about Biodegradable Soap in the Backcountry
A lot of people I meet on backpacking and camping trips think that it’s ok to pour soapy water into streams and rivers if they use biodegradable Campsuds, Sea-to-Summit Wilderness Wash, or Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap to wash their hands, shampoo their hair, or clean their camp cookware. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Generally speaking, getting any soap in a water source is not acceptable or recommended by Leave No Trace guidelines. The soap can cause all sorts of issues from increased nitrogen to actually causing significant harm to aquatic inhabitants. The impacts are further amplified in high use areas.
It’s important to understand that there are still significant impacts from BIODEGRADEABLE soap products and soap manufacturers say as much when you read the fine print on the label.
Low Impact Disposal of Soapy and Contaminated Water
So how should you dispose of soapy dishwater or water you’ve used to wash with in the backcountry?
It’s pretty simple. Dig a hole 200 feet away from other water sources and pour your wastewater in it. Putting it in a hole lets the soil act as a filter, helps accelerate the biodegradable process, and protects wildlife from disturbing it by helping to hide the scent.
Having the foresight to dig a hole requires a little planning on your part, and if you’re washing dishes it helps to have something to carry water away from other water sources like a camp bucket or a water reservoir. The same goes for washing your hands or taking a sponge bath and aiming your wastewater in the hole. No one’s aim is perfect, but the important thing is that you’re not pouring your soapy wastewater back into a stream, pond, lake, or river, but into the ground where the chemicals in the soap can decompose.
Even if you don’t use soap, think twice before swimming in creeks or potholes where water is scarce. Lotion, sunscreen, insect repellent, and body oils can contaminate these vital water sources. No one wants to drink downstream water, that you’ve used to wash DEET off your body. Dig a hole. Please.
None of these extra steps are difficult to do or terribly inconvenient, but they can help if you want to preserve the backcountry so it will be there for you or others to enjoy later on.
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If someone still argues that it doesn’t matter because the soap is biodegradable, maybe suggest that they add some to their drinking water. If they don’t want to, say, “But it’s biodegradable! What’s the problem?” And for whatever problem they point out, say, “And that’s the same problem for all the critters that live in our drink from the stream/lake/whatever.”
Of course, if they DO add it to their drinking water, then they’ll get direct experience with why it’s a bad idea ;-)
That’s a great response for those folks!
I’ll use it if I run into one on the trails in the future ?
We were rafting down the Merced in Yosemite, and got to Housekeeping Camp, and there were two guys in the Merced, washing up. Of course I spoke up, and when I did, of course they said, “it’s biodegradable.” I didn’t reply, figuring it was a lost cause.
People use soap in the wilderness??? Why??? A wash rag and water is all I ever need.
I have never taken any soap into the wilderness, and never will. The need for soap is based in germophobia and has nothing to do with reality.
If you use a bidet, or you (or a hiking partner) have ever had Noro, you might change your mind. Hand washing is basic hygiene, especially if you ever eat with your fingers or touch your eyes.
I pretty good about not doing either. It takes some discipline, but it is doable.
Lots of people who died from communicable diseases would likely disagree. Some of us have really stout immune systems that can defeat a host of microbes; others don’t. Your results may vary.
I know people who insist they don’t need to filter their water because they’ve learned how to “read” the water source. To quote another hiker I know, “They all think that until they get sick.”
I recently bought a wee titanium spoon (10 gm) to use exclusively as a scoop for snacks. I’ve had gastroenteritis – fortunately not in the backcountry – and I never want to have it or any of its evil cousins again. (I live in Washington State. There was a significant norovirus outbreak at one of popular spots along the PCT a few years back. I frequently hike in that area, and I’m extremely cautious now.)
Hot water and if needed, a good wipe with a square of TP is good enough for me. Soap is just more weight. You need to deep clean when you come out of the woods anyway.
I used the think that human urine wasn’t really an issue (assuming you’re not peeing into a small pool of water), but a while back I read an article that pointed out that if you’re taking medication, some of that will end up in the water. The article suggested that it’s not an issue for fast-flowing water — it listed a CFPS as a measure of what’s fast enough, but I don’t recall it — but if it’s still water or a slowly meandering stream, don’t pee within 200′ of it. Wildlife doesn’t need your ibuprofen.
(I think my previous attitude toward urine came from someone who’d done a lot of rafting in the desert Southwest of the US. “It all adds to the water table, and we need it!” was the logic.)
Now that Ivory soap no longer floats, who’s going to use soap while IN a body of water or watercourse now? So that leaves the problem of disposal of soapy water away from watercourses.
This may not be a problem if actual-soap soap is used. In almost all surface and ground waters, there’ll be enough “hardness” minerals to practically instantly turn any rinsed soap insoluble, to eventually leave a bathtub ring on some solid surface where the soap can break down without affecting anything. So unless you use so much soap, or use water so “soft”, that you see suds linger on the surface, using soap is no more polluting than the skin oils shed from swimming.
This loophole doesn’t apply to soapless “soaps” usually used in shampoos, body washes, or other detergents. Of cleansing bars, Dove and Cares are the only major brand not made of actual soap. However, in liquids it’s the other way around, where only the “Doctor” brands (Bronner’s, Woods, a few others sold in health food stores) are actual soap and the rest are elsewise. Still about as biodegradable as actual soap, but staying in solution during the process, which takes time.