bathing in the lake?
 

what are the rules? Our neighbors do it frequently, not sure if it is because there is an issue with their septic or if it is just "how it was always done".
thanks

Rule #1

subject must be NAKID:emb:

Here's a good article on the subject:

http://www.belgradelakes.org/Watersh...10_bathing.pdf

A giant LMAO !

It's gross, start videotaping them, then post to youtube with a location, should solve the problem.

Dont believe the hype!!
 

Bathing in the lake is a very, very old tradition. When my Grandparents bought/had the house built, it didn't even have a shower or bath tub of any kind. They added an outdoor shower in the back of the house some 5-10 years later. We didn't have an indoor shower until the first addition was built in 1958. (the house was bought/built in 1936 or 1939, not sure which, and there are stories that go both ways) Hot water was added to the OUTDOOR shower when the 2nd addition was built in 1978, I'm sure it was on the indoor shower before then.
So, for the first 20 years that we had the cottage, everyone bathed in the lake, for every bath!! Even when I was a kid up there, (late 70's to late 80's) I bathed in the lake every day. I might have taken 5-6 showers all summer. and they were only when we were going fancy for dinner somewhere, or we were entertaining guests from back home.
I went to summer camps up there, Wolfeboro Camp School, one summer. Not on Winnipesaukee, but another smaller lake or pond, can't remember the name, but we bathed every morning, at 5:30 am before eating breakfast, in the lake. We had to buy the soap and shampoo from the camp store, I want to say it was called "rainsoft" or "rainsilk," something like that. It was approved by the camp officials and was biodegradable and deemed to be "non-hazardous" to the lake and environment. Man, did that stuff smell good!! I wish I could find it today!! We also bathed in the pond in Maine, the summer I was at Camp Encore/Coda. Same kind of deal with the cleaning agents....approved by the camp and local government, to be non-hazardous to fish and wildlife, as well as the ecosystem.
I still take a bath in the lake, every chance I get. There is nothing like it in the world!!

.....but, I must say, it sure is better.......NAKID!!

Wolfeboro Camp School is on Rust Pond.

Several years ago, my wife and I were hiking in glacier national park in Montana. We hadn't had a shower for several days and went into a lake with a bar of soap to bathe and got kicked out of the park by a ranger!

Rub a dub dub they don't need no tub!

I think Cate posted the name of a soap for lake bathing that is OK envirowise, in her sail around Winni thread. :)

I remember doing this at my friends camp in Moultonborough back in the early 80's. I recall one late September morning when it was more than a bit nippy:eek:

that would just open a can of worms that a lawyer would have a field day with


:eek:

Since early 70's
 

We've bathed in the lake since the early 70's. Ivory soap ( floats plus no perfume, additives, etc) and Johnson Baby Shampoo. Wife is a killjoy and now we have a shower. I still jump in with bar in hand (and so does she).

Hey ITD, I just took a video of you. Is that a problem??

No soap is safe for the Lake
 

None of the soaps out there are safe for the water in Lakes and Rivers. I used to think Camp Suds brand (or the like) was safe, but the bottle even says to remove water from the river and lake and bath away from the source, washing the residue into the soil, where it can breakdown. ALL soaps will have some impact on the Lake. Ivory soap is listed as a moderate hazard, with only one natural soap being a low hazard. You can argue that we have much worse impact on our waters, than from soap, but....we each need to make our own decisions I guess.
.
Just wanted to point out the soap thing, I was misled about camp soap for a couple of years before I realized.

Bio soap
 

We have always used Dr. Bronners (sp). Biodegradable, I’ve even known some to brush their teeth with it. I believe AMC is ok with this as they sell use it the huts, and bath in rivers w it. It leaves no suds.

Pffft, everywhere I go I'm videoed, what's one more?

I thinking the lake soapers are the same one's who complain about fertilizer, pesticides and other things getting in the lakes, but can't see a problem with soap. SMH...

Really!!
 

Can't believe in this era, would this in anyway be OK!! :eek:

http://i44.tinypic.com/1499wms.gif colesfamily, I was just browsing through the forum and noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum after joining back in July 2009. We are glad that you have come aboard and joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

Thanks for coming on and joining us after a brief "no see ya".:)

http://i54.tinypic.com/2e56yqf.gif

Soaps in general.
 

Sure there is a lot of biodegradable soaps out there. But most are harmful to lake life like fish and algae. So you need to find soap that are harmless to the species. Sierra Club posted a list a while ago and I found it very helpful. I tried googling for the page and I cannot find it.

While searching I came up with this page that I find troublesome.

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazine...-Products.aspx

Looks like our quest for a bacteria free world will back fire.

Back to glycerin and other natural soaps?

I remember bathing in the lake in the 60s and 70s. It was either that or you went without because of the septic system.. My sisters and I would wait until the boaters came (and yes we were boaters then and some still are). Not sure how the laws are now but back then people were allowed in the water right up to the property line, as long as they were in the water. Some days there would be 25-30 boats in front of the cottage. My grandfather had 900 feet of sandy beach so we always had plenty of boats anchored in front of us. Marine patrol told us as long as their feet were in water there was nothing we could do.

It is not illegal to bath in NH waters, but it is illegal in New Hampshire
to add any-thing to freshwater, including soaps and cleansers

Fish have sex in the lake, so what's wrong with a little bath?

Phantom.....
 

I assume you have all seen a video of a male fish fertilizing eggs in a nest, right? Believe me, its not a little soap that bothers me!! LOL!!

I've seen way to many people that need to have exemption from rule#1.
( including me)

Riddle me this batman:

Why does it seem OK or semi acceptable for people to directly bath in the lake (tradition?) but it seems very taboo for anyone on a boat to even think about having a shower or sink to wash your hands if it drain into the lake?

Something doesn't make sense to me.

Occasional bathing in the lake seems a little insignificant when you consider the fact the hundreds of people rafted up at the various sand bars each day are using the lake for a toilet

Under the 'grey water' discharge rules it's probably something you can get cited for. These are probably some of the most violated over-kill rules on the books though.

If you want to bathe in public waters I'd suggest leaving the soaps inside. If you have a patch of sandy bottom, that will do a great job cleaning your skin.

Good luck!

Overkill?
 

I am not sure that I would conside any part of the gray water discharge rules "overkill". (Or for that matter, the black water rules also)

People washing their dirty greasy dishes in the sink after a meal would certainly be a negative for water quality.

Think of all of the things that people wash or dump down down a sink (like they do at home) that would be bad for the lake. Beer, soda, wine, grease, food waste.

I think the holding tank laws are well thought out, necessary, and help to maintain water quality that we all enjoy.

Exactly
 

This one of the reasons we don't frequent Braun Bay anymore. 50 to 100 people standing in waist high water....drinking beer for 6 to 7 hours and no one ever gets out of the lake:eek:.....you know you don't DRINK beer...you just borrow it:laugh:

The Breeze
Wave 'cuz I'll be wavin' back

If you bathe in a part of the lake that has a sandy bottom, you're going to get a sandy bottom!

Many years ago
 

Go back to the 1950's on an island and the lake was the only place to take a bath or a shampoo. Things have changed over the years but never minded back them. Today there is hot water and a shower. Things have come a long way.

When I was in Italy on business, they told me a saying that translates roughly into "there's a rule for everything, no one follows the rules"

That's what our nanny state people just don't seem to understand, if you devalue the rule of law with silly rules, people will decide for themselves what rules to follow.

Ever hear of anarchy?

"Over kill"

If you read the rules carefully, you will find that tossing a bucket of wash-water onto your lawn can be considered a violation. The parts on draining a swimming pool are equally humorous. None of which directly affect the OP's question but lead to a bath with soap likely to be something frowned on by the powers that be.

I recall one neighbor - grandchildren.

The grandmother would wash all of the diapers in a tub. Then rinse all of the diapers off the dock in the lake.

The problem with letting grey water drain into the water is that you can't guarantee that it is only soapy water. Into sinks go greasy residue, the last little bit of soda, some times little scraps of solid food etc. It isn't just soapy water, that the grey water laws where enacted for.

The amount of soap dispersed into the lake from someone getting a quick bath is not a significant amount, as long as a bio-degradable soap is used.

As others have said, think about the ecological damage from one weekend of activity at Braun bay.... not that I am trying to take that away from people, I am not.... Hell I do it once in a while myself.... but not all boats have bathrooms, and most people aren't going to take the time to walk up into the woods. Then you have the food, etc. that falls into the lake.... bottom line is

If people bath in the lake let them......ecologically people have been doing this for years.... and there are far more damaging things going on around the lake... like Fertilized lawns... drain water run off.... etc....

Those whole thread is just plane silly

Sorry, IMHO I dont see a difference from someone showering on a boat, with some bio-degrable soap and that discharging overboard, or someone bathing in the lake with the same type of soap.

Either this type of grey water is a hazzard to the lake's water quality, or it isn't.

Yes, we could talk about all the "What if's" or "someone might", but as to bathing in the lake, or bathing on board a boat, there is no difference.

Times thousands of people using the lake each week/weekend, it is.

Bathing in the lake say..30, 40 even maybe 20, years ago might have been ok.
doing it now, your pretty much in need of a shower after.