A backyard pool is a summertime haven, but your swimming pool can also attract mosquitoes if you’re not careful!
Unfortunately, keeping mosquitoes away can be a chore.
If you want to keep mosquito activity to a minimum, remove any puddles of standing water around your property, set up a few mosquito traps, and apply mosquito repellent.
But these aren’t the only methods available. Read on to find out more!
The Best Methods to Keep Mosquitoes Away From Your Pool
Keep your pool water free of pests with these tricks!
Check Your Greenery
If you have overgrown grass or tall plants around your yard, they’re ideal nesting spots for mosquitoes. This also applies to any piles of pine needles or lawn clippings you’ve left around.
The trees around your home need to be looked at too! Check any trees with holes in them to see if they can store water.
You can use some expanding foam insulation to fill tree holes. This is great for keeping mosquitoes away and saving your trees!
If you find a dry tree hole, leave it alone. Without the threat of mosquitoes, they make ideal homes for friendlier wildlife.
Use a Pesticide
We all know that pesticides kill insects, which will work just as well if you want to kill mosquito larvae!
The best time to set out a pesticide is when the mosquitoes aren’t mature yet, so you’ll need a larvicide. Larvicides kill mosquito pupae, but these bloodsuckers breed quickly.
Time your larvicide application so you can take out mosquitoes before they mature. You can switch to adulticide if you don’t catch them in time.
When using outdoor adulticides, keep your family and pets away from the areas you plan to spray until the pesticide has dried.
Fix Your Structures
There are two things that mosquito larvae need and love, and that are shade and dampness. Septic tanks provide them with both.
Check your home’s septic system for any structural weaknesses mosquitoes can use to get inside. This includes your pipes and septic tank.
Keep an eye on any uncovered ventilation pipes in your home because they’re perfect nesting spots. Cover ventilation pipes with fine wire mesh to avoid debris and water inside.
For this trick, gaps are your enemy! Replace tank covers that are getting too loose; otherwise, they’ll be used as a mosquito net.
Repair septic tank cracks whenever you spot them. Sniff around your home for the smell of sewer gas; if you smell something off, call a professional.
The only way to truly check for cracks is to empty your entire tank and have a professional inspect it. If they spot damage to your tank walls, you’ll need to fill it out with cement.
What if I Have an Abandoned Septic Tank Nearby?
If you’ve got an old septic tank near your pool, that’s not just a possible mosquito breeding ground. It’s also a health hazard!
To deal with it, you need to dispose of it properly. The first step is to completely drain the tank of all contents.
Once the septic tank’s drained, the bottom must be broken open to allow any remaining water flow. Then, crush the sewage tank properly and backfill the remaining space.
Get That Standing Water Moving
Mosquitoes can only lay eggs in stagnant water, so your swimming pool should be fine. Any bloodsucker that tries to put down roots there will be safely washed away from your pool.
While there is an offhand chance of finding floating egg clumps in your pool, your pool’s chlorine level will take them out before you can get bitten, so don’t worry!
You shouldn’t have mosquito troubles if you keep your pool water circulating. The story’s different for other fixtures around your property, like a bird bath.
You can’t move that standing water if you’ve got any wading pools or bird baths around the yard. Remember to change the water in those areas regularly instead.
Check Your Pool Toys
A pool isn’t complete without a few floats, but these pool toys can keep small puddles of standing water in them.
Remember to check your pool toys after you’re done swimming, and dry them properly before you pack them up.
Tip Out Those Knick-Knacks
You may have a few large and hollow pieces of junk lying around the yard. Things like empty paint buckets and old tires.
If you do, then check them for puddles of stagnant water. Anything bigger than a bottle cap is a prime area for mosquitoes to lay their eggs in, so tip out (and throw away) your junk!
If you want to keep those items, an easy solution is to drill holes in the bottom so that water can drain, but throwing them out is easier.
Booby-Trap Your Pool Areas
To keep mosquitoes away from your pool, you should set a mosquito trap around your pool area. There are different kinds of mosquito traps out there:
Mosquito Magnet
Some traps are filled with propane gas, like the Flowtron BK-40D Insect Killer, so you can use your barbeque grills to check if they’re working!
You can leave this trap running constantly, and it will last for a solid 21 days. The time is right to maximize your mosquito hunting!
Use Carbon Dioxide!
A full day of fun by the pool will involve lots of huffing and puffing, but beware! Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide, so that breathing can make you a target.
Many traps use this carbon dioxide attraction in their design, helping them fool mosquitoes into coming near.
Zap Them!
One of the trustiest methods to kill mosquitoes is through electricity. Installing a bug-zapping lamp near your pool will allow you to skip setting up a gas-based trap!
Clean Out Your Traps
Mosquitoes breed faster than these traps can take, so don’t forget to check your traps often to empty them.
Don’t rely solely on traps to solve your mosquito problems; try the other methods outlined here.
Use the Circle of Life
Mosquitoes may prey on humans, but they’re not at the top of the food chain. They have natural predators too!
You can defend your pool from mosquitoes using fish and other insects. If you have a pond near your pool, you can fill it with mosquito fish.
As their name implies, they eat mosquitoes. But be careful before picking some up because your state might have some regulations concerning these mosquito hunters.
If you don’t mind their buzzing, dragonflies are also a great way to keep your pool safe from mosquitoes.
They don’t need too much space to set up. If your pond has a few water plants nearby, then you can start to attract dragonflies to eat your pests!
Get the Right Pool Fixtures
If you’ve got bright white outdoor lights, they’re like a magnet for mosquitoes. If you’re planning on a nighttime dip, surround your pool with yellow bug lights instead.
Mosquitoes can’t see as much light as humans can, so yellow bug lights will serve as camouflage while you’re taking a swim.
You can also use citronella candles to ward them away, but the smell they give off isn’t as effective as the bug lights.
Another way to avoid being bitten is to set up strong fans around your pool. Mosquitoes aren’t too tough, so a good breeze will be enough to deter them.
Cover It Up!
If you don’t like the idea of mosquito traps, you’re not out of options yet. One effective mosquito control method involves “fencing off” your pool area from mosquitoes entirely.
Get a Pool Cover
But before going there, you can try getting a pool cover as a more temporary solution. It’s a pain to bring this out, but an unused pool is more standing water!
Shields Up
You can cover your swimming pool with a pool enclosure. You can think of these as advanced pool covers.
Unless you’re planning on getting a tan by the pool, you’ll need a pool enclosure. It protects from the sunlight and harmful ultraviolet rays, depending on the material.
Your standard pool enclosure will be fiberglass, but you can protect your pool with “Florida Glass” instead. It’s a fiberglass screen with added vinyl for extra protection!
Personalized Defense
If you want to protect your pool-goers individually from bites, you can equip them with mosquito repellent. These repellents come in either patch, lotion or spray form.
Be on the lookout for repellents with lemon eucalyptus and picaridin in them, and mind the time when you apply them.
Repellents will last anywhere from 2 to 14 hours, so be ready to reapply if you are poolside for a whole day.
When and Where Do Mosquitoes Usually Breed?
Mosquito breeding sites need 2 main features: Stagnant water and wind cover. And don’t think mosquitoes need a whole pool for their eggs, either.
They can lay eggs in extremely small pockets of standing water! If you have areas around your yard full of slow-moving water, like a huge pond, they can lay eggs there.
Unfortunately, summer is also the mosquitoes’ breeding season, so you’ll need to stay vigilant against these bloodsuckers if you want to enjoy your pool to its fullest.
Mosquitoes need the humidity to lay their eggs, but removing cool and dark areas around your pool will ensure you can swim bite-free!
Frequently Asked Questions on Keeping Mosquitoes away from Your Pool
Here are some frequently asked questions about mosquito control!
Sure, you’ll itch but so what? Our vendetta against mosquitoes isn’t simply because they drain our blood or make us itch. It’s because they’re virus carriers! Mosquitoes are perfect carriers for the West Nile virus and Yellow fever because their bodies can’t fight it off.
These dangerous diseases are spread by mosquitoes the world over. To keep your family safe, reduce the number of flying pests around your home.
The most effective way to repel mosquitoes is to spray yourself with mosquito repellent before hopping into the pool and reduce the spots around your property where they can nest.
If you’ve followed the tips here and you’re still getting bitten, you can schedule your swims to avoid mosquitoes. Adult mosquitoes don’t do well in the heat, so you’re less likely to see them during hot summer afternoons. They’re most active from dusk until dawn, so nighttime swims are risky.
You might have the full package around your property: A nice swimming pool, a beautiful lawn, and a little vegetable garden.
If this sounds like you, then you’ll need to be careful with how you keep mosquitoes away. Pesticides are a surefire way to get rid of mosquitoes, but mind where you spray!
Keep mosquito pesticides away from your flower garden and other areas that might attract pollinators.
Your garden can also protect your pool from mosquitoes. A few select plants and herbs can be used to repel mosquitoes, like citronella grass and rosemary. Plant them near your pool to reduce your chances of getting bitten, and enjoy their pleasant smells!
Conclusion
Before you plan a pool party, make sure you keep these pesky mosquitoes away with these tips!
The best ways to prevent mosquitoes from coming near your pool area are to set up some traps, spray on mosquito repellent, and scour your yard for mosquito hiding spots.
No single method will safeguard your pool areas against these bloodsuckers. Use a mixture of the tips outlined here to have an itch-free summer!
