At the most simple level, the Olszewski tube is a pipe that spans from the bottom, hypolimnetic layer of the lake to the outlet. The outlet part of the pipe is installed under lake level in order for the device to act as a siphon. Once warm water flows in the lake at the surface, it forces the cold anoxic water of the hypolimnetic layer through and up the tube. This oxygen-poor water is then brought to the top of the lake where the eutrophication occurs. This eventually helps the lake as a whole because the bottom of the lake will have more dissolved oxygen and the top of the lake will have less eutrophication.