Mosquito plague: Liverpool Council to clean up backyard pools, Sydney Water spraying pond

Liverpool council will go door-to-door to spray as many as 50 neglected swimming pools with larvicide – while Sydney Water is set to spray 8ha of ponds to fight off the ‘tornado of mozzies’ plaguing the area.

Council workers will go door-to-door spraying as many as 50 neglected swimming pools – believed to be breeding grounds for mosquitoes – with larvicide, while Sydney Water is set to spray 8ha of ponds in a bid to fight off a “tornado of mozzies”.

A massive campaign is under way to combat a mosquito tidal wave plaguing Sydney’s southwest, which originated from an 8ha settling pond owned by Sydney Water at Warwick Farm.

The site became overgrown with a prohibited weed that is an “ideal breeding ground” for mosquitoes.

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun revealed representatives of the council met with Sydney Water and inspected the major source of mosquito swarms at the Warwick Farm water recycling plant pond earlier this week.

“Imagine 20 football fields overgrown with weed and breeding mosquitoes – that’s the size of the problem we are coping with,” Cr Mannoun said.

Sydney Water’s water recycling plant pond at Warwick Farm.

Mosquito larvae (top) and the frogbit weed (bottom) at the pond.

“Sydney Water has advised council that they started taking action once we reported our concerns to them on October 31.”

Cr Mannoun had raised concerns with Sydney Water over the government-owned site’s proximity to hundreds of homes.

Tanya Kaur, who co-owns the U8F Gym in Chipping Norton that has been inundated with mozzies, takes matters into her own hands. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun is unimpressed that frogbit has been allowed to flourish at the Sydney Water pond. Picture: Facebook

“It’s disappointing the settlement ponds have been allowed to become overgrown with frogbit (weed), a prohibited plant that creates a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes,” Cr Mannoun said.

“Sydney Water has advised council it is now treating the frogbit under advice from the Department of Planning and Environment.”

The Mayor said Sydney Water would spray the ground-zero mosquito site with “larvicide”.

“This should help reduce the number of mosquitoes in the area.”

He also revealed council would go door-to-door to help property owners in the Chipping Norton area to treat as many as 50 neglected swimming pools, which are festering as breeding grounds.

Mosquitoes are in plague proportions in southwest Sydney. Picture: Supplied

The council will also continue spraying public toilet facilities, removing leaf litter, and taking action to clear up breeding grounds.

Chipping Norton resident Amani Safa said the infestation was “unlike anything she had seen before”.

“You can’t sit outside, they fly in swarms. I don’t even know how to describe it, there’s swarms of thousands,” Ms Safa told The Telegraph.

“My kids come home and they are covered in bites.

“My son can’t use the toilets at school, the kids are scared to go to the toilet because they are infested.

“Nothing is helping. My kids are the type that when they get bitten they have an allergic reaction to it and they are covered in big bumps, they can’t sleep at night.”

Last week, a Sydney Water spokesman told The Telegraph it had identified potential treatment options, including “vegetation management and chemical treatment” which would mitigate further breeding in the area.

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