# Water from the Great Lakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146 "2010-06-06T05:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/41 "2010-06-07T15:11:05Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I live around (on, actually) Lake Michigan and the water in front of my house is pure and clean, most of the time. You must be thinking of some other Great Lakes. I live in Chicago about a mile from the lake and while it is pretty clean I would not drink the water right out of the lake. They occasionally issue swim bans specifically because bacteria levels in the lake are unsafe. There can be a variety of reasons for this but I would not drink untreated water from there. That said the lakes are pretty darn clean overall except perhaps next to Gary, Indiana. A fancy restaurant did a blind water tasting test of various fancy bottled waters a few years ago. The hands-down winner? Chicago tap water. I love Chicago water…almost all other cities I go to I dislike their water. At best it is about as good. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/42 "2010-06-07T15:11:37Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > Have any of you ever seen the water in the Great Lakes? What makes you think it’s suitable for drinking? Those of us who live around the great lakes don’t drink that water. There are some water quality issues in the lakes, but you still get perfectly good drinking water after standard treatments. You wouldn’t want to drink unfiltered water from your reservoir, either… ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/43 "2010-06-07T15:42:42Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > There’s also the small problem that Chicago, at the foot of Lake Michigan is 597 feet above sea level while Santa Fe, where Bill Richardson lives, is 7,260 feet above sea level. Also, the two cities are more than 1,000 miles apart and any pipeline would cross the New Madrid earthquake fault. Assuming you want at least as much water volume as carried by the All-American Canal, that means you have to construct a canal longer than the Ohio River, wider than the Hudson River and running uphill. > > It would be easier just to move everyone back East. I’m amused by the image of spending a couple of trillion dollars to build this canal. As soon as it’s ready they open it up and what little water there is in Santa Fe starts draining into the Great Lakes. That’d show 'em! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/44 "2010-06-07T15:46:38Z")
> [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](#): > > Why are there no proposals to pipe water from the Great Lakes to the arid western US? The volume of water there is truly enormous. Most of it just flows out the St. Lawrence river to the sea. Boy, it’s just _wasted_ flowing into the ocean! Mother Nature really messed up with that water cycle thingy, didn’t she? I mean, why should ships need to get from Duluth to the Atlantic anyway, right? Let’s just drain the thing for the benefit of people who want to grow tomatoes and watermelons in their Sonoran desert backyards… ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/45 "2010-06-07T16:05:50Z")
Great OP user name and thread title combo. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/46 "2010-06-07T16:12:07Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > You’re confusing two different situations. Water was diverted _away from_ the Aral Sea, for irrigation, causing it to shrink. The proposed **Northern river reversal** you linked to would divert water that is flowing to the Ocean, possibly sending some of it _into_ the Aral Sea to replenish it. No, I’m not confusing the two. Actually they are two distinct attempts at water diversion that (1) may result in an environmental disaster, and (2) that actually is an environmental disaster. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/47 "2010-06-07T16:25:26Z")
It certainly seemed you were saying that the Northern River Reversal led to the Aral Sea shrinking. Actually, now I’m not sure what your point was in linking to the Aral Sea. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/48 "2010-06-07T17:06:47Z")
As others have pointed out, it makes no sense. If energy is cheap enough to pump water that far uphill, it would be a lot easier to desalinate water and pump it from the Pacific/Sea of Cortez. And Grand Rapids is another city that gets its drinking water from the Lakes. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/49 "2010-06-07T18:59:01Z")
Toronto gets all of its drinking water from Lake Ontario, and Montreal from the St. Lawrence River and the nearby lakes it flows into and out of. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/50 "2010-06-07T20:59:39Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > To us folks near the Lakes, the question is “Why don’t Southwesterners stop moving to the desert and trying to make it look like Ohio?” I lived in southern Utah for a year and it astounded me how much green grass there was. The number of golf courses in St. George was depressing. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/51 "2010-06-07T21:18:37Z")
I’m surprised that there has been no economic argument made FOR this yet. Yes, it’s likely an environmental disaster waiting to happen and yes, the engineering would be a ridiculous challenge, but what if our neighbours to the southwest sent trillions of dollars to the Great Lakes states and provinces? That would pay for a lot of schools and hospitals. Keep in mind that at some volume of controlled export, the water in the Great Lakes _is_ a renewable resource. It will keep raining and snowing up North. Also the argument against ‘wasting’ the water into the ocean is a decent one. While the water will be saltier at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, the water sent down to Phoenix will also find its way into the atmosphere and eventually make its way back to the Great Lakes. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, but at the right price, it’s within the realm of possiblity that it would do more good than harm for the region. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/52 "2010-06-07T22:12:57Z")
Since water is already diverted from Grand Lake (headwaters of the Colorado River) under the Continental Divide via the Alva B. Adams Tunnel to Big Thompson River and the South Platter River, it would be counter-productive. ---
**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 7, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/53 "2010-06-07T22:13:32Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I live in Chicago about a mile from the lake … Aha…that’s the difference. I live about 200 ft from the same lake, but it’s a different same lake, 250 miles north of you. Just in case you think I am boasting, I once did some daily water quality tests for E. coli and came up negative on all occasions – except for one. That was when some gulls were swimming around on a calm day, and I thought, if it’s going to be polluted, now is the time, and sure enuf, it was. ---
**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 7, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/54 "2010-06-07T22:24:03Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Keep in mind that at some volume of controlled export, the water in the Great Lakes _is_ a renewable resource. It will keep raining and snowing up North. Everything is renewable, given enough time, but ALL export of GL water reduces the volume remaining. What is an acceptable level of reduction? ---
**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 7, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/55 "2010-06-07T22:51:42Z")
To those wanting to import Great Lakes water, know this: I’ve peed in it. Repeatedly. For over half a century. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/56 "2010-06-08T00:18:06Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Aha…that’s the difference. I live about 200 ft from the same lake, but it’s a different same lake, 250 miles north of you. > > Just in case you think I am boasting, I once did some daily water quality tests for E. coli and came up negative on all occasions – except for one. That was when some gulls were swimming around on a calm day, and I thought, if it’s going to be polluted, now is the time, and sure enuf, it was. No worries about [cryptosporidium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptosporidium)? For what it’s worth, here in Ann Arbor we get most of our water from the Huron river, which I’m pretty sure is less clean than the Great Lakes are. ---
**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 8, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/57 "2010-06-08T00:34:17Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > To those wanting to import Great Lakes water, know this: I’ve peed in it. Repeatedly. For over half a century. By the time it gets to my beach, I’m pretty sure it has become homeopathic, that is, super-potent. Guess I’d better avoid swimming when the Qadgop looms on the horizon. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/58 "2010-06-08T02:49:49Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > This is the nail right on the head… > Today the so much water is pumped out of the Colorado River, the waters no longer make it to ocean. The river is dry before it gets to the Gulf Of Mexico. The day the Colorado starts flowing to the Gulf of Mexico will be the day we have much bigger fish to fry tan who gets what water so to speak ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/59 "2010-06-08T03:46:17Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > I’m not saying it’s a good idea, but at the right price, it’s within the realm of possiblity that it would do more good than harm for the region. The price would be too great; unaffordable. There isn’t just the up-front capital costs but also the cost of maintaining the pipelines and pumping stations for eterninty. The fuel costs alone would be staggering. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146/60 "2010-06-08T07:02:39Z")
> [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](#): > > Why are there no proposals to pipe water from the Great Lakes to the arid western US? The volume of water there is truly enormous. Most of it just flows out the St. Lawrence river to the sea. Because it’s used for drinking water. It’s used for agriculture. It’s used for industry. It’s used for transportation. It’s used for recreation. And thousands of species of plants and animals rely on the Great Lakes as an essential part of their habitat. You want lush green golf courses, move to somewhere where it actually rains. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-from-the-great-lakes/542146.md?page=4)