As part of an ongoing study of lakes in central Florida, Lakes Faith, Hope, and Charity were sampled from April 1971 to June 1979 to monitor water quality before, during, and after construction of Maitland Boulevard and the Interstate Highway 4 interchange. Sampling of Lake Lucien was added to the study in April 1975.

Chemical quality of the lakes varies little in comparison with chemical quality of surface runoff to the lakes, bulk precipitation, and water from the surficial aquifer. However, there is variation in water quality among the lakes; dissolved solids have averaged about twice as high in Lake Charity as in Lake Lucien. High sulfate concentrations in Lake Charity may be because of inflow of high sulfate water from the surficial aquifer in an area of citrus groves.

Surface runoff supplied about 19 percent of the direct inflow to Lakes Faith, Hope, and Charity and contributed a total of about 2,000 pounds of dissolved solids per acre of lake surface from April 1971 to June 1979, while bulk precipitation contributed about 1,170 pounds per acre. Nitrogen loading of the lakes was greater through rainfall (140 pounds per acre) than through surface runoff (average of 78 pounds per acre).

Water quality in the lakes changed during the study, generally for the better. However, an infestation of Hydrilla verticillata or elodea, in Lake Hope has interfered with recreational use of the lake. Trends in water quality in the lakes include (1) decreasing dissolved solids (and, hence, specific conductance) in Lakes Faith, Hope, and Charity, (2) decreasing total nitrogen concentration in all four lakes, (3) decreasing daily variation in dissolved oxygen concentration in Lakes Hope and Charity, (4) decreasing densities of phytoplankton in Lakes Hope and Lucien, and. (5) decreasing relative proportion of pollution-tolerant algae in Lakes Lucien, Faith, and Hope.

Results of this study could have some applicability to other lakes in central Florida where highway construction and other development could affect water quality.