Using Lake Water for Lawns has Little Effect on Lake Level

By Ken Regner, E&E Committee

I SUPPOSE THAT it is because the lake water level has been relatively low the past two years that I have heard quite a few negative comments about using lake water for lawn watering. Some people believe that using lake water for lawn watering lowers the lake level. I believe we can show it has very little effect on the level of water in the lake. Let's take a closer look.

MOST LAKE WATER UNITS pump a maximum of 10 gallons each minute so that they could pump up to 600 gallons each hour. If used for 10 hours they would pump 6,000 gallons. So, if 100 people were to run their lawn watering pumps for 10 hours each day they could all together use 600,000 gallons each day. If they used their pumps for 50 days each year they could use a total of 30,000,000 (30 million) gallons. That seems like a lot of water, and it is.

NOW LET'S LOOK at how this usage changes the lake level. It takes 27,154 gallons of water to raise or lower the level of 1 acre of water by 1 inch. Our lake area is about 5,000 acres so it takes about 135,770,000 (135 million) gallons to change our lake level by 1 inch. Therefore, the 30 million gallons used in our example would change the lake level by less than 1/4 inch. That's for the entire year.

OUR EXAMPLE OF 100 people watering their lawns for 10 hours each day for 50 days is probably considerably more than what is actually used but I chose the numbers to make them easy to follow, and so that I could not be accused of underestimating the amount of lake water used for lawn watering. The purpose of this message is not to provide an accurate measure of water usage. It is to point out the approximate impact that lawn watering can have on lake level.

THERE ARE NUTRIENTS in lake water that are probably beneficial to lawns and flowers. Using lake water as a natural fertilizer is certainly better for the lake than using standard lawn fertilizers with the accompanying runoff of excess nutrients into the lake.

WE DON'T WANT TO encourage using lake water for lawns. Nor do we want to discourage it. We simply believe that all decisions made regarding the use of our lake should be based on factual information.

BY THE WAY, compared to the 3 inch the lake level would change because of lawn watering, it is estimated that our lake loses 26 inches of water to evaporation each year.

IN CONCLUSION, COMPARED to evaporation and the water that leaves the lake by flowing out through the Boy River, the water used for lawns has little effect on lake level.

A GOOD YEAR FOR WATER CLARITY

by Tom Moore, E&E Committee

Midsummer water clarity readings indicate significant improvement over those of a year ago. As of early August, average readings in each of the five areas of the lake monitored by the E & E Committee were better than last year, as shown in the following table:

A year-to-year comparison is not meaningful for detecting long-term trends in something as complex as lake clarity but it is good news just the same. The most common explanation for this improvement is the lack of runoff going into the Lake because of the dry fall, winter, and spring experienced this year. Jim Schwartz, Dick Sampel, Richard Zejdlik and I will continue to monitor these five sites through September, following the guidelines established by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MNPCA). We send MNPCA the data, which they include in their Minnesota Lakes Clarity Report and in their calculation of our Lake Clarity Trend. As we have reported before, here at TML our trend has been positive based on reports dating back to 1973.

The Loon Journal

by Kim Abraham Moe, Member, Loon Committee

TEN MILE LAKE had six nesting pairs of loons. Five of the six nests were on platforms. A total of nine chicks hatched on the entire lake.

TO DATE WE FIND the survival to be excellent. However, many of us are concerned about the 2 late hatches on Kenfield Bay. The DNR has been consulted; they do not interfere with Mother Nature. Let's just hope these little chicks eat, thrive and grow strong so that they can migrate before winter ices over Ten Mile waters.

FALL WEATHER has caused our colorful state bird to molt to a dull gray color. Beginning in late August, loons can also be seen congregating and feeding in groups called "rafts". They are busy eating, putting on weight, and gathering strength for the long trip to our Atlantic coastal waters and the Gulf of Mexico. It is usually the males that leave first and then the females. The chicks must stay longer to continue feeding and gaining strength so they can leave our lake just before the ice forms.

THIS FINAL LOON REPORT for the year will be mailed to Pam Perry, at DNR in Brainerd, MN. Over the years she has kept detailed records of loon surveys throughout the State. (Note: several people have inquired about the statistic that one chick in four normally survives the first three months. This information came from a Michigan study. The information is printed up in Report Number 10, Bureau of Information, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.)

Review of Findings of TML Septic System Experiment

by Jim Schwartz

"FAVORABLE."

That's the term best describing results of the year-long nutrient and suspended solids reduction experiment involving septic systems on 18 Ten Mile Lake properties. Waste water treatment systems on ten of the properties were treated with a patented additive known as the "Hogen Process" and eight remained untreated as control systems.

THE TREATED SYSTEMS, which included both seasonal and year-around residences, had an 85% lower average of suspended solids than did the untreated systems, 58% lower total phosphorus, 80% lower total nitrogen, and 70% lower biochemical oxygen demand levels. In addition, the amount of sludge in the bottom of the treated septic tanks had not increased over the year-long study period, indicating sludge consumption was taking place more efficiently than is the usual case.

WHAT THESE RESULTS suggest is that the Hogen Process has the potential for prolonging septic system life, improving treatment efficiency, and reducing pumping frequency. It does so by cutting nutrient and suspended solids concentrations, thereby delivering cleaner effluent to drain fields. Treatment costs are estimated at approximately $35 per year for seasonal residents and $65 for year-around residents.

PARTICIPANTS WERE the following Ten Mile Lake families: John and Phoebe Alden, Rick and Gail Becher, Tom and Sarah Cox, Bob and Lucy Crom, Al and Carole Griggs, Don and Ann Harris, Bob and Nancy Horn, Walt and Jo Ann Kane, Dave and Mary Lee Losby, Jim and Pat Miller, Gerry and Dorothy Mills, Tom and Inger Moore, Ken and Jan Regner, Bob and Jean Rydell, Jim and Toni Schwartz, Priscilla Shrimpton, Randy and Phoebe Vosbeck and Don Willis.

TREATMENT WAS ADMINISTERED in September, 2002, and samples from all systems were drawn for analysis then and in May, July and September of 2003. All costs of the study were borne by Clearwater Technologies, Inc., a Twin Cities firm headed by Del Hogen, who developed and patented the Hogen Process.

ANYONE INTERESTED in learning more about the process may reach Del Hogen at 763-571-3698.