What is the cleanest lake near Lake South?

Duval-Willow Lake in Duval County holds a Grade C water quality score and is 16.7 miles from Lake South.

Why is Lake South not Grade A?

Lake South holds Grade D, with about 1.6 ft of water clarity and 78 µg/L of phosphorus. The grade reflects measured water quality against Metropolitan Council thresholds. Cleaner alternatives nearby score higher on clarity, phosphorus, or chlorophyll-a.

Are these recommendations based on real data?

Yes. Every grade is calculated from EPA Water Quality Portal samples for the lake. Recommendations are limited to lakes within 30 miles of Lake South in Florida, with strictly higher numeric grade scores and sufficient monitoring data.

Cleaner Lakes Than Lake South, Top 1 Within 30 Miles, LakeQuality

Cleaner Lakes Than Lake South

1 higher-graded lake within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.

Lake South carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 1 lake holds a higher grade. Duval-Willow Lake (Duval County, Grade C, 16.7 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.

Duval-Willow Lake

Duval County, Florida · 16.7 mi from Lake South

+Higher grade (D → C)
++1.4 ft water clarity
+Lower phosphorus (24 vs 78 µg/L)

Reading the cohort

Just one nearby water body scores higher than Lake South on the EPA metrics within a 30-mile radius. The single cleaner option (below) is the practical alternative; beyond that, the next-cleanest lakes sit farther out and warrant a longer drive only if the water-quality difference is the deciding factor.

The nearest cleaner alternative — Duval-Willow Lake in Duval County — sits 16.7 miles from Lake South, putting it firmly in "destination trip" rather than "neighborhood swap" range. The water-quality gap has to be the deciding factor; for a casual outing, Lake South is the practical choice and the cleaner options are reserved for purpose-specific visits.

The EPA water-quality grading combines clarity (Secchi depth), phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measurements from state environmental sampling. A higher letter grade reflects measurably cleaner water on those indicators, not subjective beauty or access quality — a Grade A lake might have worse boat-launch facilities or shoreline access than a Grade C neighbor, so the ranking is one input alongside the rest of trip planning. See the methodology page for the full grading formula.

How this list is built

Every lake on LakeQuality has a calculated grade from EPA Water Quality Portal samples — secchi depth, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measured against Metropolitan Council thresholds. To suggest cleaner alternatives, we filter lakes within 30 miles to those with a strictly higher numeric score, then rank by grade improvement with a small proximity tiebreak. Cross-state and limited-data lakes are excluded so the list stays locally relevant.