HAVE QUESTIONS?
Find the answers to the most commonly asked questions below.
LARVAL MOSQUITO CONTROL TREATMENTS
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You may request standing water treatment by clicking on this LINK or by calling our office at (419) 726-7891, Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 4:15 PM. You may also request other services—such as nighttime fogging through your neighborhood, a mosquito fish delivery for ornamental ponds, or an educational presentation—by clicking on the red Request a TASD Service tab on the right side of the screen.
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When the larviciding technician responds to your request, they will come to your house, check the standing water to see if it’s breeding mosquitoes, and if it is, they will treat it (or, in rare cases, they will return to treat it at a later time). If they do not find any larvae in the water, they will not treat it. They will leave a pamphlet (or “doorknocker”) on your door and leave the property. They will not knock on the door or otherwise notify you that they are there. The doorknocker is the only notification TASD provides at this time. If the standing water persists for an additional week or more, you may put in another new request to have it checked again.
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Unfortunately, we do not have any system in place to provide notice ahead of time of when we will be larviciding in your area.
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We do not routinely report unmaintained swimming pools to the Health Department. Our only concern is treating mosquito larvae. However, there is every possibility that if we are treating your pool in response to the request of a neighbor, that they will or have reported you to the Health Department themselves.
ADULT MOSQUITO CONTROL TREATMENTS
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There is no predetermined date when fogging operations begin (or end) every year. It is dependent on mosquito populations and weather conditions. A good ballpark is late May or early June, and it usually extends into September or early October. Fogging is only done at night, between 8:00 PM and 2:00 AM, which is when mosquitoes are most active. If it rains, it's too windy, or it's too cold, fogging is pushed off until the next night when weather conditions are favorable.
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TASD decides where to fog based primarily on surveillance information that indicates how bad the mosquitoes are in your area. Mosquito populations are monitored throughout Lucas County with the use of traps that attract and collect adult mosquitoes. These traps are checked every weekday and the mosquitoes are counted and identified to species. This information allows TASD to concentrate efforts in areas where the trap counts are higher. Requests from residents are also taken into consideration. A citizen can request a nighttime fogging whenever they feel their area warrants it.
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The fogging schedule is based entirely on surveillance and requests from residents, and it is only made one day ahead. TASD does not treat on a set schedule (e.g., Oregon every Tuesday, Waterville every Wednesday, etc.) and doesn’t plan weeks or even days in advance (with the exception of fogging for special events such as parties or weddings). The reason for this is that operations are structured around mosquito activity, and they’re certainly not planning weeks in advance! For this reason, TASD doesn’t provide any way to sign up for automatic weekly treatment. Of course, if mosquito conditions warrant it, citizens may certainly submit a request as frequently as needed.
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Once the season begins you may request nighttime fogging by visiting www.toledomosquito.org and clicking on the red Request a TASD Service tab on the right side of the screen, or by calling our office at (419) 726-7891, Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 4:15 PM. TASD will use your request as an additional surveillance factor to help determine where and when fogging will occur. You may also request other services—such as treatment of standing water, a mosquito fish delivery for ornamental ponds, or an educational presentation—through the same process.
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You can sign up to receive email notifications of when we’re going to be treating in your area HERE, or by visiting our website at www.toledomosquito.org, scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page, and clicking on the subscribe to our email notifications icon. The email notification is usually sent out by early afternoon on the day your area will be treated. Please note that if it rains the night your area is scheduled, or if it’s too cold or windy for fogging, you will be treated the next night that weather conditions are favorable.
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Unfortunately, we are not able to provide guaranteed processing times on service requests. We try very hard to accommodate every request—and most years we succeed—but when your request is fulfilled depends heavily on various factors, which include the weather and the volume of requests in your area versus other parts of the county, among other things.
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You may request fogging as often as you like. If you feel that your area is consistently plagued with mosquitoes in the summer, requesting no more than once a week is probably sufficient. However, this does not necessarily mean that we will be there every time you put in a request.
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You can check what areas of the county we’ve fogged the previous evening by clicking this LINK (or going to http://www.toledomosquito.org > Control Operations > Spray Schedule). The areas on the map that are colored in green are where we’re going to be fogging that night (weather permitting), and the areas colored in blue are where we’ve fogged the previous evening. This map is updated every business day during the season. You can also sign up for email notifications of when we're going to be in your area by going HERE (or, alternatively, by scrolling to the bottom of our homepage and clicking on the subscribe to our email notifications icon). We do not provide any sort of direct confirmation that fogging has occurred after the fact.
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We only fog from common roadways and from driveways that have been accepted into the Long Driveway Program. We do not drive through yards or on grass. Fogging is done at night in 2WD vehicles, and fogging through yards under such conditions would be unsafe for our drivers.
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2018 was the last year that TASD had the “misting” program, in which a truck would drive through residents’ yards at their request and mist for mosquitoes. TASD ended that program for several reasons, but primarily out of a concern for daytime pollinators such as bees and how using pesticides during the day might be affecting them. The decision was made to move treatment exclusively to the nighttime, when mosquitoes are the most active and beneficial pollinators are not. Unfortunately, driving a 2WD vehicle through yards in the dark would be unsafe for our drivers and potentially destructive to the property, so now nighttime fogging only occurs from common roadways and driveways that have been approved for the Long Driveway Program.
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You may submit your fogging request no more than a week in advance of your event. Submitting a service request is as easy as visiting our website, www.toledomosquito.org, and clicking on the red Request a TASD Service tab on the right-hand side of any page.
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No, fogging is not dangerous to humans or animals. The CDC has a pamphlet with more information on this subject HERE.
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You can opt out of mosquito fogging by clicking this LINK. You are required to provide proof of residence, as you may not opt out a property that you do not own. You will need to re-submit your opt-out application once per season, preferably sometime between January and May.
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When you opt out, your parcel is flagged in our GPS software and when fogging trucks are treating in your neighborhood, the software notifies the driver with an audio alarm and visual cue that they’re approaching your property. The driver then turns off the sprayer. The machine will still be running, but no fogging product will be dispersed until the truck has passed your property.
LONG DRIVEWAY PROGRAM
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The Toledo Area Sanitary District’s (TASD) Long Driveway Program allows Lucas County residents to volunteer their driveways for use by the District’s nighttime fogging vehicles. When the fogging trucks treat from residential driveways in addition to the common roadways, it increases fogging coverage in areas of the county that might not otherwise receive adequate coverage. You need to apply every season but only once per season, and if you are approved, your driveway will be incorporated into the fogging route and you will see the TASD truck in the driveway every time fogging is conducted in your area. Click HERE to apply for the Long Driveway Program. After you’ve applied for the program, whenever you would like to request fogging you can use the Request a TASD Service button on the homepage of our website.
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Generally speaking, in order to be accepted into the Long Driveway Program, your driveway must be of sufficient distance from the road, safe to drive in the dark by a 2WD vehicle, have an easy turnaround at the end, not on a corner, and not too close to another participant in the Program, an opt-out, or a major body of water. If you’re uncertain whether you meet the criteria, you may APPLY and TASD will get back to you on approval eligibility. Inclusion in the program is at the sole discretion of TASD.
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There is no predetermined length requirement. The general rule of thumb is around 300 ft. However, if your driveway is shorter than that but otherwise a great candidate, your chances of approval are still very good.
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You can apply for the long driveway program by clicking on this LINK. You will receive an email notifying you whether you’ve been approved or denied usually within 2-7 business days. There is always an influx of applications as soon as temperatures rise, so please be patient if you’re applying around late May or early June. It is suggested to put in your application as early as January, if possible.