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LakeQuality
Late afternoon sun over Slim Lake, scattering a bright path across wind-textured water

Knox County Lake Quality

Tennessee, 2 lakes, measured by TDEC

Knox County has 2 monitored lakes — a thin enough sample that one or two stressed lakes can move the county average noticeably. Use the per-lake pages below for what actually matters. 1 of those lake carry recent nutrient and algae readings. The county-level summary describes that subset, not every water body listed. For Knox County the spread behind the average matters more than the average itself: a few nutrient-rich lakes among many clear ones produce the same figure as the inverse.

Most of the county's monitored lakes are shallow, under 50 feet, which means wind keeps the water column mixed all summer and sediment-bound phosphorus releases back into the surface layer whenever the bottom is disturbed. Tennessee River Lake has the lowest nutrient and algae readings in the county.

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Where to stay near Knox County

Top-rated places to stay near Knox County

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All Lakes in Knox County

2 lakes · 1 ranked on readings, 1 without enough sampling1 lake ranked on readings · 1 without enough sampling, hidden

#LakeClarityPhosphorusAlgaeTrophicAccess
1Tennessee River LakeKnoxNo recent samples33 µg/LNo recent samplesNo recent samples✓ Public
Meads Quarry LakeKnoxNo recent samplesNo recent samplesNo recent samplesNo recent samples✓ Public

NR = no nutrient or algae reading on record. The measurements are published as the authority reports them. Where the data comes from.

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Source: the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. See data sources.