(WSIL) -- A new life saving device has made it's way to ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Illinois boat docks.
Time on the water can be full of fun, but it can also be full of hidden dangers. A new device on the market is now detecting one of those hidden dangers electricity.
"These docks on a busy weekend out here in beautiful Lake of Egypt. The dock will move, and that wires they just kind of get moved and those end up maybe getting pinched or we have muskrats and stuff, they'll come up and they're animals, they nibble on it, and they'll expose the wire," says Christian Owsley of Lake of Egypt Docks.
This natural wear and tear can put swimmers and even boaters at risk. But, that's where the Shock IQ comes in.
"If there's any loose wire that's been exposed, and it is putting electrical current in the water, which is how you end up with electrical drownings, the Shock IQ will detect it and kill the power."
It kills power to its dock, and sounds a 24 hour alarm to alert those nearby, incase the electricity is coming from another source. Something that Lake of Egypt homeowner, Brett Ridgway, thought may protect his two daughters.
"What, every year or so, you hear some story somewhere in the nation where somebody gets hurt or dies from this kind of situation, the area around a dock becoming electrified." said Ridgway.
"We had a couple out here, they kept jumping in the water, and they were swimming, they kept getting a rash. It was electrical that they ended up finding out about from their doctor, and so this really would've prevented all of that and they never would've had that issue," says Owsley.
Ridgway tells News 3 a device like this makes too much sense to not be see on more docks.
"You know with the kids swimming around on the dock and stuff, it seemed like a great idea and it was easy to do, so we were happy to put one on."
The University of Illinois recommends that don't swim around docks. If you feel tingling or like you're getting shocked, you could be swimming in electrified water. They suggest swimming away from docks or any possible electrical source.
