Is There a Cleaner Lake Near Balsam Lake?
Compared against 5 graded lakes nearby, in Wisconsin.
Balsam Lake holds Grade B (Good). Of the 5 lakes neighbouring it that carry a grade, none scores higher on nutrients and algae, so Balsam Lake is the cleanest graded water among its neighbours. Lakes nearby without enough recent sampling to earn a letter are not part of that comparison.
The graded lakes it was measured against
| Lake | County | Grade | Distance | Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balsam Lake | Washburn County | B | This lake | 8.8 ft |
| Birch Lake | Washburn County | C | Nearby | 5.5 ft |
| Red Cedar Lake | Barron County | B | Nearby | 10.1 ft |
| Lake Chetac | Sawyer County | D | Nearby | — |
| Lake Chetac | Sawyer County | D | Nearby | — |
| Long Lake | Washburn County | B | Nearby | 9.5 ft |
What the comparison covers
A grade on LakeQuality comes from EPA Water Quality Portal samples: phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a and turbidity, measured against EPA National Lakes Assessment ecoregion classes. Secchi clarity is shown and is not scored. This page compares Balsam Lake only with neighbouring lakes in Wisconsinthat carry a letter of their own. A nearby lake with too little recent sampling has no letter to compare, so it is absent from the table rather than ranked below. Where a driving distance is not published for a lake, the table says so instead of estimating one.