1
—Hillsborough-Long Pond
Hillsborough County, Florida · 1.6 mi from Lake Weeks Middle
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- +Lower phosphorus (50.5 vs 281 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Lake Weeks Middle
1 lake with lower nutrient and algae readings within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Lake Weeks Middle carries nutrient and algae readings on record. Within 30 miles, 1 lake reads lower. Hillsborough-Long Pond (Hillsborough County, Grade C, 1.6 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
Reading the cohort
Just one nearby water body scores higher than Lake Weeks Middle 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 closest cleaner alternative, Hillsborough-Long Pond in Hillsborough County, sits 1.6 miles from Lake Weeks Middle. At that distance, the substitution cost is essentially zero: same drive time, same regional access, demonstrably cleaner water on the EPA indicators. For repeat visitors who care about clarity or phosphorus levels, swapping the routine to Hillsborough-Long Pond is mostly a habit change rather than a logistics change.
Each lake's nutrient and algae readings — total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity — are shown beside the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition class for that lake's own ecoregion, so a reading is compared against the lakes it would naturally resemble. LakeQuality publishes no letter grade. Lower readings mean measurably less nutrient and algae in the water, not better scenery or access: the lake with the clearest, lowest-nutrient water can have worse boat-launch facilities or shoreline access than a neighbor, so the comparison is one input alongside the rest of trip planning. How the readings are classified is on our methodology page.
How this list is built
Sampled lakes on LakeQuality carry readings from EPA Water Quality Portal samples — nutrients and algae measured against EPA National Lakes Assessment ecoregion classes. Secchi is shown, not scored. To suggest cleaner alternatives, we filter lakes within 30 miles to those with a strictly higher numeric score, then rank by the size of the improvement with a small proximity tiebreak. Cross-state and limited-data lakes are excluded so the list stays locally relevant.