How To Get Rid Of Thrips In Pool

Did you know that thrips not only infest plants but can also take over your pool? Here is how to get rid of thrips in pool and areas around it.

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There are many insects such as giant water bugs, water boatmen, water mites, thrips, and others that love to infest swimming pools.

Most of these common pests are attracted to the pool because a lot of organic material is easily available near it. The organic matter acts as a rich food source for them.

Thrips can be very irritating because they leave you with painful bites and can infest any plants nearby, causing them to decay and die.

Pool owners end up using many methods such as shock chlorination, skimming, and algaecides to remove pool bugs.

In this blog, we will talk specifically about thrips near your pool and what you can do about it.

 

 

Can Thrips Infest Your Swimming Pool?

Yes, thrips can infest your swimming pool, although an artificial pool is not thrips natural habitat.

You can find thrips in and near ponds and other water sources that are rich in algae or on outdoor plants and crops where they can feed on the plant matter and dead algae.

But if your pool has some plants nearby, then it is possible that thrips will infest your pool too.

How To Identify Thrips In Pool Water?

Your pool may be infested by a variety of insects. Identifying what type of insect is infesting your pool is the first step to eliminating them.

These insects are tiny (almost invisible), about 1/50th to 1/25th of an inch, have wings, and are yellow, brown, or black. Identifying them merely through sight is very difficult.

The easiest way to identify thrips is to look at nearby plants. Thrips eat on plant parts, so the plants would have black and white spots on their leaves and stem.

Moreover, thrips bite your body. Thrips do not bite to suck blood but instead because they confuse you for a plant. They are usually trying to suck out moisture from your skin.

Thus, their bite is not harmful. But it is irritating, and you will get a pricking sensation when thrips bite.

 

 

How Do I Get Rid of Thrips In Pool?

Once they infest your pool, it could be difficult to get rid of them. If you want to prevent thrips from coming to your pool, then the best idea is not to plant plants near the pool.

Also, keep away weeds near the edge of the pool. If you figure out that your pool is already infested, here is what you can do:

Shock Chlorination

Shock chlorination is the most common method used to clean household water systems such as underground water, water tanks, and even swimming pools.

It gets rid of most water bugs, bacteria, and algal matter (that thrips feed on). You can use shock chlorination by adding common household liquid bleach to the pool.

However, chlorinating the pool makes it unsuitable for human use. Here’s what you need to do:

• Wait for 6-12 hours until the chlorine level falls to less than three ppm.
• Sunlight can burn chlorine, so you should ideally do it at night.

Shock chlorination can eliminate most insects from the swimming pool, not just thrips. After the process, you need to keep up with regular treatments to prevent any further infestations.

Controlling Algae Growth

As thrips feed on algae, controlling its growth would automatically control their population.

Treatment with algaecide and regular vacuuming to remove any algal matter are effective in controlling the growth of insects such as thrips that feed on them.

 

 

Skimming

One easy way to remove thrips from your swimming pool is to use a brush and skim the surface of the water. You need to spend 10 to 20 minutes every day cleaning any debris, such as fallen leaves or any organic matter from the pool.

You should also brush the pool floor and the area surrounding it to remove organic debris. Any thrips looking to infest your pool would not have any reason to do it if you skim regularly.

Regular pool maintenance is one of the best ways to keep all such types of bugs at bay.

Sticky Traps, Lights, and Other Ways

Thrips are attracted to light and colorful things, so you should either remove your artificial lights or use insect repellant ones.

Secondly, you need to get rid of any plants that you have near the pools. Keep the plant beds at least ten feet away from your pool.

Sticky traps set around the pool are another way to catch them in large numbers. Just place yellow or blue sticky traps, and you should be able to attract most of the thrips nearby.

Take care of trash around the pools. Waste organic matter attracts all insects. Removing it is essential for controlling thrips in the pool. Remember, a clean pool is a bug free pool.

How To Get Rid of Thrips Around Pool?

You can pour neem oil and orange oil by putting it in a spray bottle and spraying it all around the pool. These are effective in removing thrips.

Moreover, you can also try releasing ladybirds, lacewings, and mites who feed on thrips.

Another efficient method to control thrips is by sprinkling diatomaceous earth near the poolside. It dehydrates the cells of the thrips and kills them.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are thrips in my pool?

Your pool might get infested by thrips because there is organic matter such as debris and algae inside the pool floor or around the perimeter of the pool.

Thrips do not usually inhabit the swimming pools. Algal matter and plants near the pool attract them because these are food for thrips.

Do thrips ever go away?

Getting rid of thrips from your swimming pool could be a tedious job. Setting out sticky traps, brushing the floor walls, and routinely skimming the pool is essential to keep them at bay at all times.

Can thrips survive in water?

You might think that thrips only infest plants. Thrips can survive over water and feed on the algae and dead plants present in the water. Thus, you need to be careful to control the spread of thrips by using bleach or insecticidal soap on any algae near or inside your pool.

Are thrips attracted to water?

Not normally, but thrips are attracted to water bodies that are rich in organic matter, such as algae and debris. Pools that have algae and plant matter deposited in their walls do attract thrips as the tiny insects eat those things.

Wrap Up

Thrips infect plants, but they can infest swimming pools. Eliminating them from and around the pool is difficult.

But you can do it by using shock chlorination, brushing the entire pool floors, and regularly cleaning the pool in and around the area. Thank you for reading, and we hope we were able to help you get rid of thrips near your pool!

 

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