1
BSunset Lake
Washington County, Minnesota · mi from S. School Section Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++5.5 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (16 vs 42.5 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than S. School Section Lake
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
S. School Section Lake carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Sunset Lake (Washington County, Grade B, null mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
BPine Tree Lake
Washington County, Minnesota · mi from S. School Section Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++4.5 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (17 vs 42.5 µg/L)
3
BPlaisted Lake
Washington County, Minnesota · mi from S. School Section Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++3.3 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (25 vs 42.5 µg/L)
4
BNorth School Section Lake
Washington County, Minnesota · mi from S. School Section Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++3.8 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (25.5 vs 42.5 µg/L)
5
BBenz Lake
Washington County, Minnesota · mi from S. School Section Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- +Lower phosphorus (26 vs 42.5 µg/L)
Reading the cohort
Within 30 miles of S. School Section Lake, 5 water bodies score higher than its Grade D on the same EPA water-quality metrics. That density of cleaner options is itself a signal — when several nearby lakes score better on the same indicators, the issues at S. School Section Lake are typically lake-specific (depth, watershed inflow, stratification pattern) rather than regional. The choice for a swim, paddle, or fishing trip is genuinely between meaningfully different water bodies, not between marginal differences in the same dataset.
The closest cleaner alternative — Sunset Lake in Washington County, Grade B — sits miles from S. School Section Lake. 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 Sunset Lake is mostly a habit change rather than a logistics change.
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.