That fact that there are mosquito larvae in a pool, means that that pool has most likely has been neglected. Low chlorine levels and stagnant water are perfect breeding grounds for these dirty little bloodsuckers.
Try shocking your pool by adding 3 pounds of chlorine for every 10,000 gallons of pool water to raise the free chlorine level over 10ppm. Add chlorine daily to maintain these levels until the larvae are killed. To prevent future infestations, maintain your chlorine levels between 3 – 5 ppm.
While mosquito larvae are harmless, even if swallowed, mosquito bites on the other hand can be dangerous, especially in areas that are prone to malaria or other pathogens that are spread by mosquito bites.
Prevention is always better than cure, and it is no different when it comes to these nasty little creatures. Read on as I explain how to rid your pool of mosquito larvae for good!
How to Prevent Mosquitos from Breeding in Your Pool.
There are three main causes that make water ideal for mosquito larvae to thrive. We will deal with each one and hopefully prevent any future infestations.
- Stagnant Water
- Leaves and Debris
- Unsanitized Water
1. Avoid stagnant water. Females usually lay their eggs at night, so it is a good idea to set your pump timer to run at night. This will keep the water moving and prevent mosquitos from being able to land on the water and lay their eggs. Having some sort of water feature that disturbs the water’s surface will also prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs in the water.
2. Remove leaves, branches, and other debris. Mosquito larvae live on microorganisms in pool water such as algae, and algae need phosphates to grow. Phosphates are formed from decaying leaves and other debris in your pool. So it is always a good idea to keep your pool free from dead leaves and debris by cleaning it daily with a pool net.
3. Keep your pool water sanitized! Lastly, it is important to know, that even if your pool water is stagnant, and mosquitos lay eggs, those eggs cant survive in sanitized water. Chlorine will kill algae and remove phosphates that mosquito larvae need to survive.
Ok, so now that you have mosquito proofed your pool, it is a good idea to make sure that there are no other breeding grounds around your pool or yard. Let’s look at that next.
How to Get Rid of Mosquitos in your Yard?
There are many ways to rid your yard of mosquitos, but I am going to focus on four natural ways that require minimum maintenance.
- Remove Stagnant Water
- Grow Mosquito Repelling Plants
- Attract Natural Predators
- Mosquito Traps
1. Inspect your entire garden and remove any stagnant pools of water. Look for tires or containers lying around. Rake up dead leaves that can catch water. There are some types of plants that form a cone that catches water that mosquitos can breed in, you may want to consider removing those. Also, be sure to keep your roof gutters clean, this is easily overlooked and mosquitos love breeding in them.
2. Grow some mosquito-repelling plants. The most popular ones are Basil, Lavender, and Citronella.
3. Attract animals that eas mosquitos. Birds are a mosquitos’ worst enemy. Install a few birdseed feeders around your yard and possibly a birdbath too. Fish ponds can also help, while this might sound counter-intuitive, this will actually encourage the mosquitos to lay their eggs there instead of your swimming pool or other water puddles and the fish will eat their eggs before they hatch.
Do not kill or repel dragonflies. These buggers have amazing vision and are so agile that they can completely rid your yard of mosquitos and they are harmless to people.
4. Try mosquito traps. There are different types of mosquito traps but they all work on the same principle. Mosquito traps imitate human breath by producing carbon dioxide, mosquitos will follow this scent thinking that it will lead to its next victim. When they mosquito enters the trap, it can’t escape and it will eventually die there.
Conclusion
Swimming in a pool with mosquito larvae is harmless, even if you swallow that water. However, mosquito bites can spread mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria or zika virus.
The quickest way to rid your pool of mosquito larvae is by shocking your pool. Triple shock your pool by adding 3 pounds of chlorine for every 10,000 gallons of water. Keep your water in this shocking state for as long as you need until all the mosquito larvae have died. Your free chlorine level should be between 10ppm and 30ppm to shock the pool water.
The three main causes of mosquito larvae infestations are stagnant water, leaves and debris, and unsanitized water. Keep your pool pump running at night when mosquitos usually lay their eggs to repel them from your pool water. Water features in your pool also do well to keep the surface of the water disturbed.
Leaves and debris essentially feed algae, which in turn feeds mosquito larvae. Remove any dead leaves and branches from your pool water.
Once you have successfully killed all the larvae, be sure to keep your water well sanitized by maintaining your free chlorine level between 3ppm and 5ppm.
Mosquitos aren’t only in your pool! If you have any stagnant pools of water in your garden, you can bet that the mosquitos are breeding there. Clear your yard of any empty containers and be sure to check that your gutters are clean.
Attracting natural predators that eat mosquitos such as birds and dragonflies. Fish also eat mosquito larvae, so a fish pond will also help.