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Originally Posted by chocophile
Several years ago we had a treatment system installed. There is a UV chamber that sterilizes the water (bacteria, viruses, protozoa) and before the UV chamber there's a particle filter to ensure that the water is clear enough that particles aren't blocking UV exposure. This type of system does not address chemical contaminents and it does not improve the taste/smell of the water. This type of system is in wide use, especially in seasonal homes on lakes in Canada, Michigan, Wisconsin.
The system does require maintenance. Startup/shutdown of the water system is more complicated in spring/fall, but manageable. Every 12 months of use requires a new UV light to ensure safe operation.
Overall, I am very happy with the system. I feel comfortable that the water is always safe to drink. The taste of the water isn't always the best (spring seems to be especially lakey), but maybe a point-of-use filter under the kitchen sink would improve that. (We usually bring some drinking water for the weekends.)
Feel free to email me if you want more specifics, recommendations, etc.
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The only filter I have to maintain is a $3 activated-carbon filter on my water
distiller.
Though I don't know of any of my neighbor's water treatments, all of my older neighbors have drawn from the lake for decades. I do too. Water quality increased markedly when I drew from 15 feet of depth rather than the original 7 feet. Only my newest neighbor has a well, which poses a different set of invisible problems. (Like radon, a radioactive gas).
Another neighbor runs a 3-inch pipe into 30 feet of water—perhaps for irrigation of their expansive 3-acre lawn. Using irrigation water on "manicured lawns"—then invisibly returning it to the lake
via the lawn—is a bad idea...IMHO.
Some of my family members boil lakewater—some buy many gallons of bottled water. My preference is to distill lakewater—and even to distill the local town water!
It amounts to 25 cents per gallon, and the distillers "throw-off" a lot of heat indoors—desireable during most of the year. Water is boiled for six hours per gallon in the process, running through an inexpensive activated charcoal final-filter, which takes out the
really nasty gases.
The remaining dark brown
distillate (ejected from the distillation process) would convince a reasonable person to distill all one's drinking water.