GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA — Decontaminating your wake boat after a trip to Lake Powell is about to get much easier.
The dip tank boat decontamination system, developed by Clean Wake LLC, can soak the bottom of your boat in hot water, getting rid of any invasive quagga and zebra mussels that may have attached.
The mussels have been a problem for years. They’re infamous for clogging and destroying water infrastructures.
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“Those things are the most economically damaging invasive species the country has ever seen,” said Nate Owens, aquatic invasive species coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
The dip tank is 14 feet wide and five feet deep, and it includes a built-in guiding track to help people back their boats in.
It uses a propane-based heating system to bring water up to 110 degrees F. A boat’s complex intake systems are flushed out during a short treatment.
RELATED: Lake Powell quagga mussel problem getting worse, DWR says
After a five-minute soak, a boat is considered free of invasive species.
According to Owens, the system is the first of its kind for ridding watercraft of invasive species.
The traditional method of cleaning mussels off a boat can take at least 30 minutes, sometimes even an hour, but the dip tank takes no longer than 10 minutes to do its job.
The new system will be available for free to the owners of wakeboard boats with complex systems this summer. Other types of boats will be cleaned off using the traditional power wash.
RELATED: Invasive mussel problem at Lake Powell prompts boating precautions
