Hundreds of bugs in pool

[jesses408]

I swam in my pool every night in July and the only bug problem I had was June Bugs. There were a bunch of them every night but it was easy to get them out of the pool with a cup or net.

Something changed and on Monday of this week, the June bugs were gone but there were hundreds of tiny bugs in the water. I got in and got right back out because the pool surface was covered in tiny dead bugs.

Usually I go in the pool at 9pm but today I got in at 8pm when the sun was just setting and the pool had no bugs in it. Then as soon as the sun went down, a few bugs started appearing, then a few more, then we were surrounded by hundreds of them again and we all got out.

I have 3 LED lights in my pool and I think the lights are attracting them, but I've been using those lights for over a month and the bugs only started to overwhelm the pool this week.

Does anyone know how to keep these stupid bugs out of the pool at night? Do I have to stop using my LED pool lights?

 

[pooldv]

Yep, my pool light hasn't been on in years. Turn on lights away from the pool and lights off in the pool.

 

[RonsPlc]

I have 2 VERY bright LED flood lights 80 feet away from my pool. Pool lights were never an option here as I live IN the woods, and know how bugs act with lights.

 

[jesses408]

I just don't understand why the bugs (aside from June bugs) didn't notice my pool lights until this week. I guess I was just lucky that it wasn't very buggy out until recently?

The only other thing different is that last week I drained and refilled the water due to the CYA being off the charts. Maybe now that my water chemistry levels are good, the bugs decided that my water is delicious and a good place to die?

 

[pooldv]

Yeah, I don't know. I have almost no bugs. I'm sure it is cyclical like may flies, June bugs, etc. Hopefully it won't last long. And leaving the light off will help.

 

[jesses408]

I figured out that on days that it rains, all the bugs come out and stay out for 1-2 days afterwards. When the bugs are out, my pool lights are like a bug magnet and they all bombard the pool. There was almost no rain in July so the bugs didn't bother my pool for several weeks (except for June bugs which are always in the mood). When it's buggy, I just have to keep my pool lights off and use other outdoor lights

 

[JohnT]

Bugs have very short lives and often all hatch at the same time, so they may have just hatched. Leave the lights off. Mine are seldom on for more than a minute or two when swimming is finished for the evening. We use tiki torches for light while swimming.