Can Mosquitoes Live in Pool Water?

Can Mosquitoes Live in Pool Water?

We hear about something like this every so often. Does it sound familiar to you? Somebody had a problem with mosquitoes in their pool, and now nobody in the neighborhood wants a pool. People talk, and stories have a way of developing a life of their own. The truth is that mosquitoes can’t stand healthy pool water. No living thing can, and that’s the point of chlorine. However, not everyone with a pool has a healthy pool. Even some people do wind up with “wigglers” in the water.

A pool cover after a rainstorm can look mighty enticing to mosquitoes looking for a place to lay their eggs. But, of course, any standing water will do – And that includes water that used to be chlorinated. Chlorine and sunlight don’t mix as chlorine is battered by Florida’s plentiful sunlight; chlorine ions separate. This separation means that the water becomes more hospitable to living things… Things like bacteria, algae, and insects.

Contaminants like fallen sticks, leaves, and so on make it hard for chlorine to keep the water clean.

What Attracts Mosquitoes?

When mosquitoes look for places to lay eggs, they look for still water. Pools with jet systems that disturb the water, pools with filters, disinfectants, or waves are also unattractive. If you have an old pool that’s slowly evaporating, you have a mosquito factory. Drain all of the water at once if you don’t plan to maintain your pool. Mosquitoes also hunt down small water sources, like troughs of mud or even standing water from a sprinkler. You can even find wigglers in the saucers under potted plants!

It’s no surprise, then, that sometimes mosquitoes can come to inhabit swimming pools. The truth is that a well-maintained, properly working swimming pool should not attract mosquitoes. In addition, a swimming pool needs disinfectant, and these ills mosquito larvae too.

How to Keep Mosquitoes Out of Your Pool

Avoid covering a pool that’s already old. Please – If you think you can get away with letting a pool go bad for a couple of weeks and throw a tarp over it in the winter, you’re in for a shock. Mosquito eggs likely already exist in the pool. By the time you uncover it, there may already be a cloud of adult mosquitoes under the tarp! If you use a pool cover, make sure it’s air-tight.

Mosquitoes will get into any small space they can. They’ll get into any gaps between your pool and the cover. Check the cover for rips regularly. Tension, fallen objects, animals, and more can lead to rips. Try to run the filter for at least a few hours per day. Mosquitoes cannot stand on moving water without sinking, which they need to do to lay their eggs. Moving water prevents mosquito eggs from hatching, too.

It’s important not to allow even a single wiggler to survive to adulthood. If it does, it will consider your home its territory. It won’t migrate or go flying looking for other places to occupy. Instead, a mosquito larva that reaches maturity will view your pool and its surroundings as hunting grounds. Luckily, having a pool that is disinfected and properly filtered is safe from mosquitoes. It’s when you have other bodies of standing water that you need to worry about! Total Pest Solutions can help you identify and remove potential mosquito nests on your property.