27 Ways to Prevent Mosquito Breeding Sites in Standing Water Around Your Home
Check list from Montgomery County, MD's
"Use This List to Check for Mosquitoes' Artifical Breeding Sites
| Potential Breeding Site | How to Correct |
| Any container capable of holding at least a teaspoon of water 1/4 deep | Throw away, turn over, empty once a week or drill holes in the bottom |
| Bird baths | Dump out once a week or flush out with garden hose |
| Pet water bowls | Rinse out once a week |
| Potted plants with saucers | Empty saucers or flush out with garden hose once week |
| Buckets, watering cans, drinking glasses, styrofoam cups, bottle caps, foil, other trash that can hold water | Store inside or turn over. If trash, throw away |
| Tarps or other plastic covers, flexible sandbox covers | Drain water trapped in folds and arrange so that water runs off. |
| Gutters, including "covered" types | Clean so water runs freely |
| Garbage cans, other barrels, upturned garbage can lids | Keep cans covered or drill holes in bottom. Keep lid on can or turned so water runs off. If collecting rain water, cover with screen |
| Old tires | Dispose of at Solid Waste Transfer Station, Shady Grove (for Mongomery County, MD residents) or your local recycling facility. if used for playground equipment, drill holes for water to run. If on ground, be sure holes are not blocked by mulch |
| Old playground equipment | Remove and dispose of. If it must be stored, put under cover. Be sure water drains off. |
| Children's toys, especially plastic toys, "Kiddie Coops," etc. | Store inside or turn so that places that can hold water are turned down. Some toys have compartments that hold water on both sides |
| Wading pool, unused or abandoned swimming pools | Turn over kiddie pools when not in use. Larvicide unused swimming pools with mosquitoes dunks once a month. (Mosquitoes can't breed in maintained swimming pools because of the chemical used. |
| Wheelbarrow stored outside | Turn over when not in use |
| Flat roofs | Inspect for water pools |
| Dripping outdoor faucets and window air conditioners | If puddling, repair faucet. Place rocks under window air conditioner to ensure water runs off or fill hole with dirt |
| Ornamental ponds without fish | Stock with fish, apply larvicide or filter/aerate water. (Fish eat mosquito larvae) |
| Boats, canoes | Pump out bilges. Turn over canoes and small boates. if no possible to turn over, dump out after each rain |
| Under decks, porches or outbuildings: stored items, depressions in dirt or plastic ground linings | Fill in depressions. Remove or turn over any stored items that hold water |
| Pipes, plumbing supplies with elbows (corner joints) | Store under cover. If they must be outside, arrange so openings point down, not up |
| Drainage ditch, culvert or other low areas clogged by grass and weed clipping | Remove grass and week clippings so water can flow and/or drain freely |
| Flexible plastic pipe to take water away from downspout | Replace with smooth pipe. The grooves can hold enough water to breed mosquitoes. Fasten screen or old nylon stocking to end with duct tape |
| Base of patio umbrella or portable basketball stand | Fill with sand or if filled with water, be sure to screw on plug. Keep water out of depressions on stand also |
| Outdoor grills | Keep covered. Be sure vent is closed also. |
| Bromeliads (plants that hold water), holes in trees or cavities formed by multiple tree trunks | Turn plant over to dump water. For trees or plants too large to turn over, flush out cavities with garden hose once a week |
| Outside drains | Cove with screening or larvicide with "mosquitoe dunks/pellets" |
| Sump pumps | Cover with screening |
| Bamboo | Cut down and regularly move remaining "stumps" so they can't hold water |
| Hollow fence posts without caps | Put caps on open chain link or plastic fence posts |
| Plastic in garden to prevent weeds | Use landscape cloth that will allow water to pass through instead of plastic sheets that hold water |