LAKE MURRAY SHORES, S.C. — If you haven't heard of them, aqua sweeps are tools that some locals buy and use here on Lake Murray to get rid of the overgrowth, the muck and the debris.
They're devices that weigh about 75 pounds. It makes big waves underwater to move approximately 500 gallons of water a minute up to 40 feet away.
According to Dominion Energy, which owns the lake, Lake Murray residential guidelines explain property owners should contact their Lake Management Office before removing any water vegetation or installing an aqua sweep.
Juston Stone knows how these devices work and tells News19 sometimes vegetation can cause problems.
"If enough vegetation gets caught in a boat motor or in the prop it, can actually burn the foot up. Depending on what your boat is, that can cost thousands and thousands of dollars," said Stone, owner of Stone's Aquatic Weed and Algae Removal.
Stone explains this helps avoid that problem. After the area has been "aqua sweeped," it also attracts fish.
"When you turn it off, your fish are going to come to your dock, that's clean first, because they want the cleanest house around. So, they typically bed around there and you'll have hundreds, if not a couple, three or four hundred beds," Stone said.
Locals like Lake Murray resident Karen Perez like how these aqua sweeps bring benefits to the lake.
"I think it would be helpful to clean the debris and the trash around the docks and draw in more of your wildlife and have them be more fruitful for the fisherman out there," Perez said.
