Many people are afraid of ants around swimming pools and look for non-toxic methods to get rid of these nuisance pests that can help avoid deadly stings and painful bites.
How To Get Rid Of Ants Around Swimming Pool? You can get rid of ants around the swimming pool by regular maintenance and cleaning, placing boric acid baits or citrus peels, using neem oil spray, and spreading cornstarch on trails. Moreover, spray vinegar solution, remove potted plants, and use ant traps. Rubbing alcohol and dish soap solution can also remove them, but you can call an ant exterminator if DIY methods do not work.
Choose a suitable method to remove ants because a few methods are not considered safe for humans and pets and create problems after coming in contact with water.
How do you get rid of ants around swimming pool?
You can get rid of ants by various physical and chemical methods, but it is better to consider the toxicity of chemicals while choosing any method.
Regular maintenance and cleaning
Some people do not bother with regular cleaning of swimming pools and keep the peripheral areas dirty. They leave the snack’s wrapper on its outer side and spill fizzy drinks or juices.
The presence of food leftovers and food crumbs can draw ants or starving insects. You can keep them away by wiping out the peripheral areas frequently.
Remove the food crumbs, wipe the spills, and mop the area to reduce dirt and debris, which can help remove these ants.
Place boric acid baits
Boric acid baits are pretty effective against ants and give long-term results as these baits affect the whole colony. Boric acid targets the queens or growing larvae and kills an entire colony.
You can mix the boric acid powder with maple syrup to make attractive baits and put a small amount on several small cardboard pieces.
Place these cardboard pieces in areas close to the pool that can efficiently attract nearby ants. These foragers take toxic food back to their colony and transfer it to other fellows.
Use neem oil spray
Neem oils have a repelling smell that can irritate ants’ odor receptors as they do not like strong smells and consider them unpleasant.
Mix 10-15 drops of neem oil in a cup of water to make a spraying solution. Spray it around the pool and let it deter the insects for many hours until its odor remains.
However, you can also use pure neem oil to get rid of ants and leave some drops of oil on the pool’s outer side, which can effectively repel ants. You have to put more drops when its smell disappears.
Place citrus peels
Peel of the citrus fruits, like oranges and lemons, can help remove ants from swimming pools. You have to spread the peel around it and let them do their magic.
Their citrus odors cause discomfort for tiny insects and disrupt their trails. Accordingly, they leave the spot immediately after detecting the odor from peels.
It can take some time to repel insects, but this natural method of removing them can protect you from accidental ingestions of toxic chemicals.
I used orange peels and found them quite effective repellents as there were no insects after a few hours of spreading them.
Spread cornstarch on trails
You can also spread cornstarch powder directly on the trails of ants moving near the swimming pool. This powder can trap insects when you sprinkle water after spreading it.
This powder turns into a cement-like material and restricts their movement. Another method to use cornstarch is to spread the powder on their trails and vacuum them.
Remove the vacuum bag and put it in the trash bin to avoid the re-entry of insects indoors. Seal the bag properly to prevent their escape, as they can make a way by chewing the bag.
Spray vinegar solution
Prepare white vinegar solution by mixing it in water, as ants hate the strong scent of vinegar. It can help repel insects from specific areas when you spray it in peripheral areas of the swimming pool.
Mix 3 to 5 tablespoons of white vinegar in 1 cup of water and transfer it to the spray bottle. Spray it on the hard floor if there is an infestation of insects.
It can be an effective deterrent until its odor remains in the air but loses its repelling potential when the scent disappears. So, you have to re-spraying the solution after some time.
Remove potted plants
The presence of potted plants around the pool can attract ants because they find floral scents to be pleasant. They get attracted to roses, sunflowers, and a few other plants with beautiful odors.
Moreover, they live in the plant roots and infest the soil, leading to extensive damage to the roots and leaves. They can chew leaves and disturb root structure by moving.
You can avoid their entries by removing the potted plants or replacing them. You can put other plants with repelling odors, like peppermint or basil, as these can deter insects.
Mix dish soap and rubbing alcohol
You can prepare a toxin by mixing water, rubbing alcohol, and dish soap together. Take a spray bottle and add 40ml rubbing alcohol into it.
Add 50 ml of water and 30 ml of dishwashing soap to make a solution. Shake this spray bottle to mix all these ingredients thoroughly and spray the ant mounds.
It does not cause any harm to humans and pets if a small amount or a few drops fall into the water. So, there is no problem with using this solution near the swimming pool.
Use ant traps
Some ant species are pretty stubborn as repelling solutions, and citrus peels cannot repel them, so you can place traps to get rid of them.
You can get commercial ant baits if homemade solutions do not work for them. Many effective traps are available in stores, like Terro, Raid, Advion, etc.
Put the bait stations close to the pool area and wait for these ants to come and enjoy the sweet food particles and ingest the toxic compounds.
Furthermore, one of my friends used Terro ant bait and found it effective against the pavement ants, as there were many insects before using this bait.
Call professional exterminators
One of the best solutions to remove insects from outdoor or indoor areas is to ask for help from professional exterminators. These experts can help kill insects rapidly and clear nearby areas.
They use insecticidal sprays after locating the anthills near the swimming pool area and kill the whole colony. These insects cannot tolerate the toxicity of chemicals and die after direct exposure.
Why are there ants around my pool?
Different factors are responsible for drawing ants to the swimming pool, including food residues on the hard floor, as children can leave crumbs or wrappers while eating.
Moreover, moisture and water spills around pools can also attract these insects, particularly the moisture-loving species, so you have to keep outer areas dry.
Flowering plants with beautiful fragrances can also allure their receptors and bring them closer to potted plants that can become the center of attention.
In addition, a cold or moist environment can draw these insects when looking for a water source and feeling dehydrated. It helps reduce their body temperature during the hot days of summer.
What type of ants can reach around a swimming pool?
You can see many insects crawling toward the swimming pool during summer when the weather is hot. They cannot survive on hot surfaces and look for moist places to reduce body temperature.
Most commonly, red or fire ants can appear if plants are around the pool, looking for plant-based food to meet their body requirements.
In addition, moisture-loving species, like pharaohs and pavement ants, can also reach outdoors to hydrate their bodies.
Flying ants can also access these areas when they come out for a nuptial flight and find moist areas for swarming. So, you can see winged insects and a few other indoor and outdoor species there.
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