Whether you’re worried about serious mosquito-borne diseases like the Zika virus or you just want to avoid those itchy, swollen bumps left behind by a bite, controlling mosquitoes around your home is mostly a matter of controlling water. Standing water is essential at every stage of the mosquito’s life cycle, so removing that source can be devastating to those mosquitoes buzzing around your yard.
Here are a list of tips to eliminate standing water around your house:
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- Walk your property and look carefully for anything that will collect rainwater – buckets, old tires, empty flower pots, etc. When you find one of these sources, consider discarding it or moving it to a covered area. If you leave it where it is, be sure to remember its location.
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- Dump out those containers after every rainfall. If the item isn’t something you can easily turn over, carry a squeegee to push the water out.
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- Take note of any low-lying areas of your property that are prone to even minor flooding. If these areas collect standing water and in turn become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, it may be worthwhile to have the areas regraded to avoid the problem.
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- Maintain all pools and hot tubs with proper chlorine solutions and cleaning intervals. Due to its size, a neglected swimming pool can be one of the worst sources of mosquitoes.
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- Consider replacing stagnant water vessels like birdbaths with fountains that continuously recirculate the water. Mosquitoes can’t breed in circulating water, so this option allows you to still provide a clean water source for neighborhood birds.
If even after taking these steps, you still have issues with finding puddles and mosquitos right after, you may have some plumbing/draining issues. Give us a call, and kill two birds with one stone: your plumbing problem and those mosquitos!