Is America’s dirtiest lake in Florida? That’s what this new study says

A study released this month by rental company Lake.com has revealed the dirtiest lake in Florida — as well as the rest of the nation.

The study looks at federal chemical data for 100 of the largest lakes in the U.S., sampled between 2020 and July 15 earlier this year. Of those, 46 were able to be accurately gauged for cleanliness.

“The researchers evaluated eight of the most commonly measured characteristics that can suggest a lake’s cleanliness level: dissolved oxygen, ammonia, lead, phosphorus, sulfate, total dissolved solids, turbidity and pH,” the study reads.

When accounting all of these factors, the “dirtiest” lake in the nation was revealed to be Lake Okeechobee, which had high levels of pollutants across the board.

"Lake Okeechobee in Florida is America’s dirtiest lake. 0.67 µg/L of lead was detected in its most recent samples. There is no safe level of lead, and its presence in lakes is unnatural.

Turbidity here was the second-highest of all evaluated lakes, measuring 34.36 NTU, after Utah Lake’s 58.11 NTU. This gives the impression of rather cloudy water. One cause for the murky appearance of Lake Okeechobee may be the high levels of phosphorus, estimated at 0.18 mg/L, which stimulates algae growth."

Lake.com, "America's Cleanest and Dirtiest Lakes"

Harmful algae blooms can be relatively common in Florida’s lakes, potentially killing marine life by draining oxygen from the water. These blooms can also cause a big stink as they decay, producing noxious odors.

Phosphorus and nitrogen are two of the culprits behind many of these blooms, which can in turn change the pH levels of the surrounding water — something that can have significant repercussions for animals living in the water.

Lake Okeechobee wasn’t the only Florida lake on the list, though. It turned out that Lake George in Central Florida also placed high at No. 6.

Researchers said that Lake George suffered from higher levels of sulfate, as well as a sizable gap from the ideal level of pH 7.

Meanwhile, the full list of the dirtiest lakes is as follows:

On the flip side, Lake.com’s list of the cleanest lakes is as follows: