Ants are Eating My Liner

Over the years we have seen problems with ants eating tiny pin holes in above ground pool liners.
Our recommendation is to apply Diatomaceous Earth under your liner the next time you replace it.

Here is how it works.

Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous (die-uh-toe-may-shus) Earth, isn't dirt or earth, not even colored like it. It consists of the broken up shells of tinycritters,called diatomes, that lived long ago and died in groups so massive that they can, today, be mined and bull-dozed.

"DE", as it's abbreviated, has the neat quality of killing insects. (Unfortunately, it kills good ones, like bees and ladybugs too, so its use shouldn't be indiscriminate.) It is 100% ecologically safe to the environment and non-poisonous to man and beast.

DE works by slicing open the exoskeleton (outer, hard covering) of insects, causing them to "bleed" to death. (Actually, their insides leak out, they dehydrate and die.)

When DE is sprinkled on the ground, on an ant mound, or mixed with grains, legumes, etc., it slices and dices the insectsthat walk through it. Many farmers deliberately mix DE with animal feed to kill internal parasites in farm animals. The DE in the animal feces even kills the fly maggots that invariably appear in the patties.

You do need to be cautious with your use of DE. Inhaling it can cause lung problems.
(It's a fine dust.)It's OK to eat, but don't breathe it. Use a mask when applying DE.