pool bugs

[Hanch]

We had this same problem and I tried using 3 tablespoons of dawn dish liquid to a quart of water and then put it in a spray bottle. i went around the sides and sprayed like crazy and they immediately died when the mixture touched them. They come back a few times but in smaller numbers and then they are gone. The soap mixture is a sure fire cure. It does make the water a little bubbly for a little while but eventually there are no more bugs.

[Johnny]

Can't you just prevent there food source from happening. Kill the alge, prevent it from comingback. Keep your chlorine at a good level and make sure it never gets low.

[buglady]

We have just gotten the same invasion of tiny tiny black bugs and we also live in San Diego area and just had sod installed w/i 4 feet or so of pool. these critters tend to form clusters near the edge of the pool but rapidly disperse if disturbed.

They look like springtails to me under a handlens, so I'm not worried about them hurting me - I know they are harmless little soil dwellers normally. But I am a little surprised about how they are surviving in the pool. Chlorine levels (salt generator) are fine and everything in the chemistry seems to be in balance.

I am actually more concerned about using the dish soap edge spray and what effect that will have on the pool chemistry. anyone have information on that?

[Blubs]

I have what I believe the same bugs that you are talking about. I googled them and found they're called pillbugs or rolly pollys. I bought Demon WP off ebay and did one application last weekend to the perimeter of the cement around our pool. They are not as plentiful and I can still apply more since my bag came with 4 applications. Demon WP is supposed to last 3 months. Hope this helps!

[dekid]

Treating the grass helps . They come through screen so if your screen pool cage is going to the floor you need to make a wall around the pool. We recommend (as a cheap fix) the plastic/vinyl patio roofing around the base of the pool screwed in to the aluminum posts or have a screen company come in and add aluminum walls..That and spraying the yard with demon will make a big differrence. If you dont have a screen pool enclosure you are pretty much limited to yard spay. They are attracted to the water, so now matter how much chemical is in the pool they will keep coming.

[tricex5]

I too have little black bugs living on the bottom and side wall also in the filter/pump and the hoses! They seemed to just appear over night. they jump and fly if you remove them from the water they are fast. I guess they do kind of remind me of those tiny jumping grass bugs. there is an area of sod a few feet from the pool. All the chemicals in our pool are ideal. there is no algea no slime of any kind and the water is crystal clear. we doubled the chlorine and we have shocked it the bugs are still living. here is the strangest part of these things, we have a bucket and a kiddie pool near the pool that we let get icky anywhere we have dirty slimy nasty water they have no existance of the bugs ONLY in the clean pool water. We live in a rural area west of Phx, AZ it is very hot, windy and extremely dusty.

[rickroni]

Wow I thought no one else would know about these things since this is all new to me.

I live in Nor Cal and just had an inground pool put in my back yard about a two months ago then I followed up with some yard work.

I had new sod put down and after all the work was complete I started noticing this "dust" around the perimeter of my pool every day. A few weeks later I took a closer look and these "dust particles" were moving! Jumping around. YUCH!

So I run my filter pump about 15 minutes before I let the family swim. This usually will clean the pool but they will be there the very next day.

From what I have read, there is nothing I can do about these anoying little specs.

[mr_clean]

things that can help, spray yard with bug spray, keep chlorine level up, this will kill bugs in water. Buy a mild soap tile cleaner like Arrow tile cleaner, add down middle of pool at each end by squeezing and making line with soap down the middle of pool. This will push all bugs or debri to sides of pool and you can net everything up.

[zshark]

yea i live in camarillo ca and we have a new pool with new sod and yes we have the same tiny lil bugs...i like the idea of the soap and thats what im gonna try because a small amount of soap will break down before it can do any damage to the pool or equipment...

[rarahall]

I have the same problem. This is the second year I have the pool the first year was bug free. I opened the pool this year and noticed tons of little tiny bugs that look like rice. They are not black but more of a dirty yellow color.

HELP

Yes! You have described exactly the way they look only the ones I have bite or sting. You don't notice at first and then all of a sudden its like a stinging sensation all over you and the only thing you can do is get in the water chin deep and then you start to feel them on your face. They don't leave any kind of mark or whelp it just drives me nuts because they don't seam to sting my husband although he says he can see them everywhere. My husband thought he noticed them on the rim of the pool when he pulled it out of the box and began to spread it across the grass and just thought they came from the yard. Another friend bought the same pool and said she noticed them in the box before she ever pulled it out. Is this possible? Also we do use chemicals in our pool and it doesn't seem to have any affect what so ever on the bugs. What are they and how do we get rid of them. One more thing, bug repellent was a thought but I have a baby and the idea of putting a bug spray on us every day that we swim just doesn't sound like a good idea. Someone please help.

[rarahall]

I have the same problem. This is the second year I have the pool the first year was bug free. I opened the pool this year and noticed tons of little tiny bugs that look like rice. They are not black but more of a dirty yellow color.

HELP

Yes! You have described exactly the way they look only the ones I have bite or sting. You don't notice at first and then all of a sudden its like a stinging sensation all over you and the only thing you can do is get in the water chin deep and then you start to feel them on your face. They don't leave any kind of mark or whelp it just drives me nuts because they don't seam to sting my husband although he says he can see them everywhere. My husband thought he noticed them on the rim of the pool when he pulled it out of the box and began to spread it across the grass and just thought they came from the yard. Another friend bought the same pool and said she noticed them in the box before she ever pulled it out. Is this possible? Also we do use chemicals in our pool and it doesn't seem to have any affect what so ever on the bugs. What are they and how do we get rid of them. One more thing, bug repellent was a thought but I have a baby and the idea of putting a bug spray on us every day that we swim just doesn't sound like a good idea. Someone please help.

One more thing I thought I should add, these bugs aren't just in the water, in fact you may not see any for the first 15 minutes after getting in the pool and then all of a sudden, you can barley see them like tiny specks of light in the air they fly above and around the pool and you can sometimes see a blanket of them lying across the water and then of course they land on you and swarm around.

[pontuner42]

I have a new pool and new sod as well as new mulch beds with shrubs in my backyard. I began noticing clusters of tiny black insects in the corners of the pool right at the water line. They tend to crawl up the tile but then fall back into the water only to JUMP onto the tile again. If I get at them vigorously with the pool brush I can move them to the skimmers but yesterday they appeared in round clusters in the middle of the pool. They do not appear every day, that's when I realized they were showing up on the mornings I watered my lawn. My research indicates they are Springtails, non biting/harmless, just a nuisance. They are very small, about 1/16th to 1/8th inch and they are black and they jump. I collected a sample to take to the pool store today, probably won't be of any help. I think I would be better off taking them to Lowe's or Home Depot to let their experts identify them. I've heard that a mild mixture of Dawn dish detergent and water sprayed on them will break the surface tension of the water and then they will drown. Of course this is temporary until the next morning. I may try to spray the detergent on the deck coping and around the perimeter of the pool itself. I do have quarterly bug service but that is certainly not controlling them.

[mbutlin]

I have had my swimming pool for 19 years and every year the little black critters think they can take up residence in my pool. I go to my local walmart or menards and buy the cheap gallon of algeacide (all my other chemicals are name brand, I believe in good chemicals.) I pour about a fourth of the bottle around the edges and within 15 minutes the bugs are floating. This never fails.

[tanner]

We live in Ontario Canada and have the same things. Millions of them. This is our 2nd year with the salt water pool. We never had last year. We also had sod last year and did not have them at all. We've asked our pool guy as well as the Pool Company that tests the water....nobody has heard about these before. I can't imagine putting dish soap in the pool. Wouldn't that turn into a giant bubble tub with the jets???
Any other ideas on how to get rid of these nasty things?

[GoBananas]

SOLUTION! I have them too every year/spring in both my pools Pasadena CA and Palm Springs CA. They do come visit from yards/gardens and not necessarily your own and not necessarily lawns either. One of our homes is adjacent to a golf course. A pool guy told us it's far more common than most realize. Simply use enviromentally safe BIO-DEGRADEABLE dish soap, using a squirt bottle that squirts a straight line [like hair stylists hair dye bottles do] and squirt a line down the center of the pool, which will send surface debris and bugs to the edges, then use a FINE [not standard] net to scoop them out. The little bit of soap will not cause damage to your pool or turn it into a bubble bath either and that type of dish soap is safe on you. You may not get them all when scooping them out, but you'll get many, and many of the others will simply drown because they simply can no longer run across the top of the water. They'll be back, but now you know how to deal with them when they come to visit. Also note that this method of surface cleaning is also used by professional pool services to quickly surface clean pools. So today you've now learned two tricks in one.

Peace, love, equality, and success nailing Jell-O to a tree,
GoBananas a.k.a. GoneBananas