The Montgomery County Health Department (MCHD), after consulting with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and Lower Merion Township officials, will be spraying to control the adult mosquito population in Lower Merion Township.
The spraying will be done where sampling by the Health Department and PADEP has shown mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus.
The spraying will be done, weather permitting, on Wednesday, Sept. 19, from approximately 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. The alternate date will be Monday, Sept. 24.
The boundaries for the spray will be: Montgomery Avenue, Roberts Road, Spring Mill Road and surrounding areas. Harriton High School will not be included in the spray. The spraying will include all residential streets within the boundaries.
The spraying will be done by MCHD. There will be no aerial spraying. Workers will be using Biomist 3+15 at a rate of 1.5 fluid ounces per acre with a truck-mounted Ultra Low Volume (ULV) sprayer.
The Health Department will work with appropriate agencies to identify, eliminate, or treat with larvacide, areas where mosquitoes are breeding.
Residents may contact the Health Department at (610) 278-5117 if they are concerned about an area of standing water that may be a breeding area. The adult mosquito control program will only be used in limited situations to reduce large numbers of adult mosquitoes.
There are things that everyone can do around the home to help eliminate mosquito-breeding areas. Some of these tips include: identifying and eliminating all sources of standing water that collect on your property. Mosquitoes will breed in any puddle that lasts for more than four days; and disposing of tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots, or similar water-holding containers that have collected on your property. Do not overlook containers that have become overgrown by aquatic vegetation.
Officials also urge the community to pay special attention to discarded tires that may have collected water on your property and keep swimming pools clean and chlorinated. A swimming pool that is left untended becomes a source of mosquito breeding.
Be aware: Mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers.
