There are bugs swimming in my pool.

Predaceous diving beetles are strong flyers and can return to your pool even after removal, making simple skimming only a temporary fix. To control them effectively, you’ll need a combination of removal, elimination, and prevention strategies.

1. Physically removing beetles from the pool is the first step but don’t just toss them aside.​

Tip: Prepare a bucket of water with a small layer of cooking oil on the surface. After skimming beetles from your pool, place them into this bucket. The oil breaks the surface tension and coats their spiracles (breathing holes), causing them to drown.

2. Beetles are phototactic and highly attracted to light.​

Tip: Turn on your underwater pool lights at night, then skim the surface. You’ll likely find more beetles drawn to the illuminated area, making it easier to capture them in larger numbers.

3. Predaceous beetles feed on smaller insects, larvae, and microorganisms. To reduce their attraction to your pool:​

  • Skim out leaves, debris, and organic matter daily.
  • Trim back surrounding vegetation to prevent insects from falling into the water.
  • Eliminate mosquito breeding grounds (standing water, bird baths, clogged gutters).
  • Use a fine mesh skimmer to remove tiny bugs they might prey on.

4. While these beetles can survive in chlorinated water, maintaining ideal water balance is crucial for reducing other insect life they feed on.​

Best Practice Ranges:
  • Free Chlorine: 2–4 ppm
  • pH: 7.4–7.6
  • Alkalinity: 80–120 ppm
  • Cyanuric Acid: 30–50 ppm (stabilizer)
Avoid over-chlorinating although high chlorine can kill microalgae (their indirect food source), it can be harmful to swimmers and non-target wildlife.

5. A solar or safety pool cover blocks flying insects and beetles from accessing your water at night. You can also:​

  • Turn off or dim outdoor lights near the pool.
  • Use yellow “bug lights” that attract fewer insects.
 
I Can feel the pain, Just try few things which actually worked for me.
  1. Turn off the pool lights at night – They're attracted to the light, especially if your pool is lit up after dark. I started turning mine off in the evenings and saw fewer bugs within a few days.
  2. Shock the pool – A good chlorine shock helps make the water less inviting to insects. Beetles breathe air and come up for oxygen, but a well-chlorinated pool makes it less habitable for them.
  3. Skim regularly – Use a leaf net to remove any beetles you see ASAP. They can reproduce fast if left alone.
  4. Cover the pool when it’s not in use especially at night.
Also, make sure your pool water is circulating properly and that you don’t have any still, stagnant areas.
 
I had those beetles in my pool last summer, super annoying. I’d see them swimming around like they owned the place. What I ended up doing was scooping them out every morning with the skimmer net. They’re pretty quick, but you can get most of them if you move slow and steady.

After that, I gave the pool a good shock and ran the pump longer each day. I think they liked the still water, so once everything was moving and chlorinated, they stopped showing up as much. Also, I started covering the pool at night, which helped a ton since they seem to come in when the lights are on or bugs are flying around. After a week or so of staying on it, they were gone.
 
Your pool is a magnet for those tiny scuba divers, who are drawn to light and water. Based on my experience and the advice of other pool owners, here's how to get rid of them and keep them gone.

Scoop Them Out: Every day, use a fine-mesh skimmer net to catch beetles, particularly at night when they are attracted to pool lights. To drown them, submerge them in a bucket of water with a little oil added; if you simply throw them out, they may fly back.

Starve Them: They consume algae, mosquito larvae, and tiny insects. Keep your pool clean by vacuuming the bottom, cleaning the tiles of algae, and skimming debris. To make it less inviting, keep the pH between 7.2 and 7.8 and the chlorine between 3 and 5 parts per million.

Cover Up: Since they are strong flyers drawn to light reflected off water, use a pool cover at night to keep them out.

Dim the Lights: To lessen the allure of the pool or surrounding lights at night, turn them off.Examine the vegetation and get rid of any plants or standing water that attract beetles and other small insects.
 
They’re super annoying. I ended up turning off my pool lights at night and kept the cover on when not in use. I also gave the pool a good shock and cleaned out all the leaves and bugs. After a few days, they stopped showing up. They seem to love calm, dirty water so keeping things clean really helped.
 
Nathan Parker said:
How to get rid of predaceous diving beetles in my pool?
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Those little guys can be a pain. I had them show up a couple summers ago, and the key was making the pool less inviting for them. They’re attracted to still water and lights at night, so I started running the pump more consistently and turned off nearby lights after dark.

Skimming them out daily helped, but what really worked was shocking the pool and making sure chlorine levels stayed on point. They don’t like well-maintained water. Also, double-check that your pool cover doesn’t have standing water on top that can attract them too. Once I tightened up the maintenance, they stopped coming around.
 
Nathan Parker said:
How to get rid of predaceous diving beetles in my pool?
Click to expand...
Predaceous diving beetles can be a bit of a nuisance in the pool! To get rid of them, start by scooping them out with a pool net whenever you spot them. These beetles tend to thrive in the water, so it’s important to regularly clean and skim the pool to remove any debris where they might hide. You can also try using a pool cover to prevent them from getting in, especially at night when they’re more likely to be active.

If the problem persists, you might need to look into using a natural insecticide designed for pool areas. Just make sure it's safe for aquatic life and won’t harm the pool’s water balance. Keeping the pool’s filtration system clean and running properly can also help by circulating the water and discouraging pests from settling in.
 
I had these show up earlier this season, and what finally got things under control was a mix of cleaning and cutting down what attracts them in the first place. They’re not actually living off the pool water itself—they’re coming in because they sense small bugs or algae around the surface.

What worked best for me was:

  • Running the pump longer so there wasn’t any quiet or stagnant spots. They really seem to prefer calm water.
  • Scooping them out at dusk—for whatever reason, they gather near the steps and shallow end right before dark, so it’s way easier to grab a bunch at once.
  • Tidying up around the pool. I trimmed back some plants and dumped any standing water nearby. Once I cut down the other bugs hanging around, the beetles basically stopped visiting.
  • Keeping chlorine steady, not over-shocking but keeping levels solid. As soon as the water got cleaner and clearer, they had nothing to feed on.
Took about a week of staying consistent, but they haven’t really been back since. They’re stubborn little things, but you can definitely get ahead of them.
 
Predaceous diving beetles usually show up because the pool is attracting other small bugs. The fastest fix is to skim them out daily and keep chlorine levels steady. Run the pump longer to avoid still water, turn off pool lights at night, and use a cover when the pool isn’t in use. Also clean up leaves, algae, and any standing water nearby. Once the pool is clean and well-circulated, they usually stop coming back.
 
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