Eliminating Standing Water
The Virginia Department of Health recommends the following to reduce mosquito-breeding sites around your home:
- Turn over or remove containers in your yard where rainwater collects, such as potted plant trays, buckets, or toys.
- Empty bird baths once a week.
- Remove old tires from your yard.
- Clean roof gutters and downspout screens.
- Elimnate standing water on flat roofs, boats, and tarps.
- Clear obstructions in ditches so they flow and drain. Fill in puddles with soil, or a mixture of sand and gravel, or dig drainage ditches to drain puddles.
- If puddles or ditches cannot be drained or filled in, treat standing water with mosquito larvicide's (dunks or granules) that can be purchased at any hardware store.
- Do not allow water to collect in your garbage can.
Other Standing Water Issues
