LAKE HARTWELL, S.C. — An Upstate organization unveiled a new device to help keep Lake Hartwell safe for its communities and ecosystem.

The Lake Hartwell Partners for Clean Water (LHPCW) was established in 2020 and is dedicated to keeping Lake Hartwell’s 56,000 surface acres and roughly 1,000 miles of shoreline clean.

According to the organization, over 40,000 residents of the area utilize the reservoir as a source of drinking water, and over 14,000 lbs. of litter were removed from the lake following two clean-up campaigns in 2023.

For this year’s fall clean-up, local businesses donated and refurbished the “Trash Tank”, a triton boat that’s equipped to collect and remove litter from the water.

The Trash Tank was first introduced to the water last month following a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 28.

The organization’s clean-up efforts don’t stop there — a second Trash Tank is planned for the Georgia area in the early parts of next year.

Anyone interested in getting involved in the clean-up effort should visit the nonprofit’s website to register for its lake-wide clean up event, “Splash Away the Trash”, on Saturday Sept. 14, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.