Our Below Ground Liner Pool Is Plagued With Wood Lice
by Peter
The pool is below ground with an openable glass enclosure over both deck & pool in a garden situated aproximately 40 metres from the shore of a sea water lough in Northern Ireland. The garden is laid out with several bushes & plants and a small lawn. The pool temperature is normaly around 27 / 28 degrees centigrade (80 degrees F). I am at a loss if they could ever be controlled, though on an internet search a few years ago I found a couple of recipes, however, I am reluctant to try! Over the years I have come to accept spending 20 minutes carefully netting and disposing the damn things. Any suggestion would be gratefully received. Thanks for the question Peter I recently answered a similar question about bugs in this post: Salt Water Swimming Pool & Water Bugs..Earwig Problem I actually had to look "Wood Lice". In Virginia we call them Potato Bugs or Pill Bugs. Here in Oregon they're sometimes called that or Roley Poley Bugs, but they're the same thing and can be irritating. I've scooped out so many things from pools I lost count years ago, so I know what you're talking about. There are pesticides that you can use, but it sounds like you may not want to go that route, so here are a couple of natural things you can do. First is to get a food grade, not pool grade, diatomaceous earth. Spread this around the perimeter of your garden, and maybe the pool as well. This will cut open the exoskeleton of the bugs and they will slowly dehydrate. We had a flea problem inside the house. We didn't want to use any chemicals. It works, although it did take some time. These kinds of bugs like warm, damp areas with lots of food. Get a newspaper wet and place one section on the ground. Put food scraps on top of the paper, then place another wet paper on top of it. Kind of like a sandwich for bugs. They should be attracted to this and not your pool. Simply pick it up and throw it away. Or if you have a local farmer with chickens, give it to him. Chickens love those things. Another way that I've heard of, but never tried, is to use a product called Spinosad. This is a natural insecticide. It's received some pretty good reviews, but again, I've never personally tried it. Hope this helps and let me know how it turns out for you. Robert |
