On Dec 13, 12:49 pm, "Mike S." wrote:
Isn't water and laundry detergent from your washing machine supposed
to be pumped to your septic tank (if you have one)? I recently
discovered that my father has been pumping the water to the outside
ground. I would think that would be bad for the environment since it
has all that laundry detergent and bleach in it. I would also think
that would be bad considering he has well water. Any thoughts?

I'm sure the water used to be pumped to the septic tank. I think he
changed things when that pump broke.

Not necessarily bad: In many parts of the world 'grey' water is
disposed of that way. It's often used to water plants for example. In
some cases golf courses.
It's called 'recycling', much better than adding it municipal sewage
and dumping into a waterway or the ocean.
Some claim that the large amounts of detergent etc. in wash water slow
down the proper bacterial action of a septic tank.