Painter Lake
Cass County, Michigan107 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Painter Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- Limited data
Painter Lake in Cass County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.5 ft visibility. Surface area: 106.6 acres.
Painter Lake is a 107-acre lake in Cass County, Michigan. Water clarity is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2022-09-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Painter Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Painter Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Painter Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Painter Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 6.5 ft. TSI 50.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 50 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Painter Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
107 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Painter Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
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Fishing Painter Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Improving6 years
Phosphorus
Stable+0.29 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.9 µg/L/yr4 years
EPA Impairment Status
Painter Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Fish consumption.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MI040500011403-05 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cass County
Frequently asked questions about Painter Lake
Where is Painter Lake?
- Painter Lake is a lake in Cass County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Painter Lake?
- Painter Lake in Cass County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.5 ft visibility. Surface area: 106.6 acres.
Is Painter Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Painter Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
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Where this data comes from
59 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS59 samples · 2016–2022
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database