# Can you drink untreated Lake Michigan water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391 "2008-06-27T02:47:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/1 "2008-06-27T02:47:49Z")
Obviously one can’t drink effluent from a steel plant, but can one go out in the middle of the lake, dip a ladle in, and drink? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/2 "2008-06-27T02:52:31Z")
As in “Physically Consume”? Yup. It’s a liquid. Would you want to? Depends. I probably wouldn’t unless it was that or die of thirst. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/3 "2008-06-27T03:05:55Z")
Anecdotally, I hear that the Great Lakes are in much better condition than they were 20 or 30 years ago. You can probably Google something yourself. I realize this is not what the environmentalists would have you believe. I would have no issues drinking from the middle of Lake Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/4 "2008-06-27T03:31:49Z")
You can drink out of a mud puddle on an old country road, That is if you are accustomed to drinking water like that. If the only water you ever drink come from a chlorine system you may react to it. But IMHO the middle of L M one would have to be a real weakling to have it bother you. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/5 "2008-06-27T04:39:28Z")
[QUOTE=Aeschines] Obviously one can’t drink effluent from a steel plant, but can one go out in the middle of the lake, dip a ladle in, and drink? [/QUOTE] Well, sure. Of course, you _are_ running some risk, but less than an _E. coli_ infested beach in Chicago or Gary, Indiana. (Gary would also have “effluent from a steel plant”, as well as crap dumped by the BP petroleum refinery, among others - definitely not recommended for consumption). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/6 "2008-06-27T04:51:51Z")
Growing up on Lake Michigan (where I still live), I’ve consumed gallons of Lake Michigan water over the years, direct from the lake. Inadvertently, anyway, when getting pummeled by waves, and so forth. I never got sick from it. But I wouldn’t voluntarily drink it. Some days, the lake is clear as crystal, cold as ice, and looks pure as the driven snow. But other times, fish bits float by, as does seagull poop, seaweed, trees, etc. And one never knows when the Milwaukee Metro Sewer District will be dumping millions of gallons of raw waste into the lake, 50 miles to the south. E. coli, cryptosporidium, enterobacter, and salmonella have all been cultured from that discharge. Several websites give Lake Michigan Beach closing stats, along with the concentration of bacteria at those locations. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/7 "2008-06-27T10:46:43Z")
You always risk getting parasites too. The water won’t kill you, just give you stuff that needs treatment later. Drink it if your stuck adrift in a boat. Many cities get their water from the Great Lakes. They don’t filter out chemicals from it. they only kill the living stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/8 "2008-06-27T12:58:50Z")
Whenever I go on boat trips on Lake Michigan, I never take bottled water. It’s all around me! And I’ve never had any problems from drinking it or swimming in it. However, I live in an area distant from big cities, and I refrain from using the water in harbors. In the middle of the lake, it looks clear and tastes fine. In a crowded yacht harbor next to the dock gas pump, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/9 "2008-06-27T13:06:01Z")
An anecdote follows…some years ago, a guy was on a PWC in Lake Michigan when he had engine trouble. He was unable to hail any passing boats and was adrift for a long time. When he was finally rescued, he was taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration. _Dehydration?_ In the middle of the lake? He said, “I thought Lake Michigan was salt, so I didn’t drink it.” (I verified this story with the Chicago Tribune at the time, but I have no link.) ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/10 "2008-06-27T13:21:58Z")
When kayaking on Lake Superior, I figured I’d risk giardiasis and give it a whirl… It was actually some of the coolest, crispest, best tasting water I’d ever had…and I make it a point to tell people about it when I have the chance. I drank quite a bit of it within an hour, maybe 16 ounces or so and didn’t get sick. Anecdotal, I know, but I’d assume Lake Michigan might be similar…and if there’s something that can make me sick on something I consume, it general does make me sick. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/11 "2008-06-27T14:00:47Z")
I’ve never had problems drinking Lake Superior water. It’s like swimming in an aquarium - it’s that clear. I’ve experienced vertigo while kayaking on calm days. If there’s no waves, you can look down and see the bottom 20 or 30 feet deep, and it doesn’t take much to trick your brain into thinking, just for a second, that it’s air your floating on, not water. Lake Michigan, on the other hand, yuk. That lake can get nasty. And **Musicat** , I remember that story too! ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/12 "2008-06-27T15:24:59Z")
I most agree on the tast of lake superior water. While scuba Diving I have drank a lot of water from the biggest lake and its very tasty water. Near the shorelines is quite another matter. The algae makes it tast like any other lake water. The open pit ore mines on the Iron Range has some of the best tasting water also. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/13 "2008-06-27T15:44:35Z")
[QUOTE=Gbro] Near the shorelines is quite another matter. The algae makes it tast like any other lake water. [/QUOTE] Hmm, no algae on the shore 'round here. It’s all crystal clear rock or sand bottoms 'round us. You might find a stagnant area with some seaweedy stuff if you look hard enough, but those are few and far between. ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/14 "2008-06-27T15:45:01Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] I’ve experienced vertigo while kayaking on calm days. If there’s no waves, you can look down and see the bottom 20 or 30 feet deep, and it doesn’t take much to trick your brain into thinking, just for a second, that it’s air your floating on, not water. [/QUOTE] I got that same sensation and actually thought I’d developed a fear of depth, although I spearfish and snorkel (in the waters of Rhode Island) and don’t get the feeling at all. I think it’s being at the surface and seeing deep, jagged stalagmite-like formations that you feel may impale you if you tip over in your kayak. That’s funny…I thought I was the only one who felt that! ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/15 "2008-06-27T15:48:05Z")
[QUOTE=SharkB8] I got that same sensation and actually thought I’d developed a fear of depth, although I spearfish and snorkel (in the waters of Rhode Island) and don’t get the feeling at all. I think it’s being at the surface and seeing deep, jagged stalagmite-like formations that you feel may impale you if you tip over in your kayak. That’s funny…I thought I was the only one who felt that! [/QUOTE] Yeah it’s pretty freaky, isn’t it? It only happens to me on really calm days. If there’s waves on the water, my brain has no problem with the idea I’m on water. It’s when it’s perfectly calm that you feel sorta like a road runner cartoon when the coyote runs off a cliff and hangs in the air for a minute until he realizes he’s not on ground, then falls like a rock. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/16 "2008-06-27T16:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] Lake Michigan, on the other hand, yuk. That lake can get nasty. [/quote] Those, including me, who offer a single description of any vast body of water, whether Michigan, Superior or whatever, suffer from a limited view of such. My view is of clear and safe water all the time. I doubt that a swimmer near Chicago would feel that is a fair observation. It reminds me of [the story of the blind men viewing the elephant for the first time.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Men_and_an_Elephant) Each got a different “view” of the beast. Individually, each was right. Combined, all were wrong. > [@](#): > > Each one touches a different part, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then compare notes on what they felt, and learn they are in complete disagreement. > > \ > > The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/17 "2008-06-27T19:12:35Z")
Lake Superior is cleaner looking than lake Michigan. I have been in areas that are crystal clear in the Apostle Islands area. They don’t allow soap or suntan lotion at the state park, because it takes years to break down. I think the fact that the lake is always very cold is why the bacteria and algae aren’t out of control. You have a small area by shorelines that is warm for a foot down. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/18 "2008-06-27T20:50:30Z")
I went swimming in it 25 years ago, and I’m fine. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/19 "2008-06-27T21:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] I went swimming in it 25 years ago, and I’m fine. [/QUOTE] Says you! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391/20 "2008-06-27T21:45:45Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Says you! 😛 [/QUOTE] Hey, the extra couple of arms come in handy all the time 😉 (I don’t actually have four arms. I wish I did.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-drink-untreated-lake-michigan-water/454391.md?page=2)