On 04/09/2011 6:13 PM, Roy wrote:
>
>> My dad had a buisness associate in the early 60's who had a summer
>> place in Canada. The tap water was pumped out of the lake. Even as a
>> young kid I liked it and could tell the difference.
>>
>> Lou
>
> Probably from all the septic tank effluent which was seeping into the lake. Nowadays cottage owners are often required to install holding tanks for their sewage and are regularly pumped out and the effluent trucked away.

It may depend on where the cottage is. The installation of septic beds
is strictly regulated, but a lot of them may be grandfathered and it is
only when there are major renovations made that they have to be updated.
One of the most popular cottage areas in Ontario is Muskoka, which is
very rocky. By rocky I do not mean that there are a lot of rocks in the
ground. It is solid rock. Installing proper septic bed would be a major
undertaking.

Friends of ours have a cottage on the south end of Georgian Bay and
about 15 years ago there was a major sewer line installed along their
road and they had to hook up to it.