Smelly Lake Water
 

We bought our dream cottage in Moultonborough this past August, so we're just coming up on a full year here. We were here last weekend, but when we got here this weekend, our water (lake water) was really stinky!! I'm just wondering - does that happen occasionally? Is anyone else experiencing this? Will it just pass or is it something I should worry about? We don't drink it, of course, but even taking a shower was a harrowing experience....:laugh:

Never heard of smelly lake water on Winni. The upper end of Moultonborough Bay does have some of the poorer water quality on the lake, see
http://winnipesaukeegateway.org/moni...ing-sites-map/
You can zoom using your scroll wheel like on google maps.

Suggest you give a call to the NH DES water division.
http://des.nh.gov/contactus/subject.htm#W

Where in Moultonborough?

Moultonborough Bay, near Black Island. Not as bad today, but the water still has a noticeable smell that we've never had before. We'll be making some calls...

Have you checked to see if there are any dead fish near the intake?

What kind of smell is it?

Every so often, when anchored or riding slowly we get a strong fish smell for no visible reason. We always talk about getting out the fishing rods.

Water turnover...
 

A few years ago someone posted that the water "turns over" due to the warming after ice-out, I think was the explanation. The bottom water moves to the top. Every year this is an occurrence. I noticed a fishy smell a couple days ago. It goes away quickly.

There is a spring turn over, shortly after ice out. That would have been about 3 months ago.

Hopefully it is a natural cause. However there are many old and failing septic units associated with old camps so there could be something amiss nearby.

Wasn't Moultonborough scheduled for chemical applications to the water due to eurasian milfoil?

Scheduled for Tuesday, June 26th, but only in the Moultonborough Bay Inlet sub-watershed and Harilla Landing, not in Catdon's area (Black Island).

Quick update - we came back up the following weekend and the odor was gone. I checked with our neighbors who are also on lake water and they never detected anything out of the ordinary, so it seems like it was probably something going on around our intake, which seemed to self-correct. Thanks everyone for the input and advice.