How to Get Rid of Water Bugs in Pool
Although your pool sanitizer will keep out most contaminants types by making the environment hostile for them, there are still some water bug types that can live comfortably in pool water.
Water bugs make your water look unsanitary, and some can also bite, making them a serious concern for any pool owner.
However, the good news is that these gross and pesky creatures are pretty easy to remove from your pool by denying them their food source and making the water uninhabitable for them.
Types of Water Bugs
Water bugs are insects that live in and around the water. Two main types seem to love the swimming pool water than most others, which are the backswimmers and water boatmen
1. Backswimmers
Backswimmers get their name from the fact they swim upside-down. These bugs have a long and thin body and are typically light or medium brown. Also, they often grow to a maximum length of 1/2-inch.
These winged bugs can fly, and they are often easy to mistake for water boatmen. However, unlike the latter, they are predators that will feed on other bugs. Hence, when you have water boatmen in the pool, you are also likely to have backswimmers as they will come hunting them.
What makes the backswimmers a problem for your pool is that they bite. Although their bite is not poisonous, it hurts like a bee bite. If several of them bite you when swimming, the pain can be excruciating.
Backswimmers do not feed on algae, so they are relatively easy to remove by simply eliminating their food sources, such as water boatmen.
2. Water Boatmen
The water boatmen have a scary and intimidating look characterized by an oval shape, and they often come in a pure brown of greenish-brown color. These bugs will also not grow beyond 1/2-inch, and like backswimmers, they have wings and can fly.
Although they look gross and scary, these bugs are pretty beneficial for your pool as they will eat algae and many other types of microorganisms you do not want in your water. However, they are also a food source for backswimmers, meaning they will always attract them to your pool.
Water boatmen are quite docile bugs. They will also not bite like the backswimmers and are not poisonous. However, you still need to get rid of them, and this requires skimming out the large ones you can see and eliminating algae, which is their primary food source.
How Water Bugs Get into Your Pool
The two common water bugs you are likely to encounter in your pool are backswimmers, and water boatmen have wings and can fly. Therefore, in many instances, they just fly into your pool, and when the water is habitable, they will lay eggs and keep multiplying.
Swimmers can also introduce the water bugs to your water in their swimsuits. Some of the tiny eggs can collect in a swimsuit when swimming in a pool or natural water bodies with these bugs.
If the person uses the same swimsuit on your pool without proper cleaning and sanitization, some of the eggs may remain in your pool, and if the habitat is conducive, they hatch and start the bug infestation.
How to Remove Water Bugs from Your Pool
Step 1: Skim Your Pool
Bugs are pretty large insects that will float in the water and are hence easy to spot. Therefore, you can quickly skim most of them out.
All you need is a good pool skimmer like the Sunnyglade Swimming Pool Cleaner, and make sure you have a long enough pole for a good reach. Make sure you remove all the bugs you can see in the water.
Step 2: Brush and Scrub the Pool
Next, you need to brush and scrub your pool surfaces to remove the food sources attracting the bugs and eggs that might be clinging to these surfaces.
Here it is all about using some elbow grease to give the pool a thorough scrub. Also, it is crucial to ensure you have a pool brush that can do a good job, such as The Wall Whale Classic WW18Res 18″ Swimming Pool Brush.
Step 3: Vacuum the Bugs and Their Eggs
After brushing the pool surfaces, it is time to get rid of the bugs, eggs, and their food sources such as algae that you loosen. Most of these contaminants will sink to the bottom, and so they should be easy to vacuum.
An automatic vacuum cleaner will give you an easier time, but a manual vacuum is better if you want to give the pool a thorough and deep cleaning. With a manual vacuum, you can easily ensure you cover the entire pool.
Step 4: Add Pool Shock
The next step is adding some pool shock to ensure you kill the bugs or eggs and their food source that you miss when scrubbing and vacuuming.
Shocking the pool also allows you to free up chlorine to keep the water well sanitized, which makes it hard for the bugs to come back. You will need around 2 to 3 pounds of a good shock like calcium hypochlorite for every 10,000 gallons of water.
Step 5: Run the Pump
You should give the pool shock at least 12 hours to do its job and then run the pump. Running the pump allows the water to circulate through the filter, which traps all the dead bugs, eggs, and algae.
Step 6: Clean the Filter and Balance Pool Chemistry
As you finish up the job, make sure you clean your filters to remove the contaminants it will trap in the steps above. When the filter is clean and ready for use, make sure you test your pool water chemistry and balance anything off to get it ready and safe for swimming.
How to Prevent Water Bugs in Your Pool
1. Cover your pool every time it is not in use as this is an easy way to ensure the water bugs cannot fly into the water as they search for habitat.
2. Observer proper pool cleaning habits and ensure the chemistry is always in perfect balance so that the water will not be conducive for bugs.
3. Ensure your pool water is not conducive for the water bugs’ food sources like algae and other microorganisms by using algaecides often.
4. Skim the pool as often as possible to remove the water bugs before they start laying eggs and multiplying.
Bottom Line
While water bugs can be scary and are one of the grossest things you can encounter in pool water, there is no need to panic as they are pretty easy to eliminate.
The first step is always to identify the type you are dealing with and the most likely reasons you have it in your pool.
The other key thing is to remove what you have in the pool through skimming, brushing, vacuuming, and shocking. Also, ensure you eliminate the food sources and make the pool water unconducive for them by following the tips above.
