08/27/2026
City of Portage Mosquito Abatement Program.
Techs Bono and Dietz will finish Mosquito abatement in Wednesday' trash route and move into Thursday's route tonight (8/27).
Due to a weather event forecast of 8/26 treatment abatement was postponed.
Partial Wednesday trash route 8/25/2026 was treated in the Old Porter and Portage Ave subdivision corridors.
Tuesday Trash Route 8/25/2026 is completed in treatment abatement.
Monday trash route, 8/24/2026, is completed in treatment abatement.
We will resume Wednesday's trash route in mosquito abatement when conditions allow for treatment.
We will update on future treatments on this FB page.
WHAT is the City’s Schedule of Treatment?
Monday and Tuesday Evenings are scheduled treatments, with two licensed techs driving through those designated routes in two different vehicles. We use our “Sanitation route” maps as treatment references with the public. One week we will treat “MONDAY & TUESDAY” trash routes and the next week we will treat “WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY” trash routes. When weather conditions are not favorable for the early week treatments, other days in the week are selected to set for treatment.
HOW DO NIGHT-TIME MOSQUITO SPRAY TREATMENTS WORK?
Night-time mosquito control applications are commonly used for wide-area mosquito control, such as across an entire community. Both the EPA and CDC recognize a legitimate and compelling need for the prudent use of night-time spray treatments to control adult mosquitoes, especially to prevent the risk of mosquito-borne disease. ULV equipment converts a liquid mosquito control product into an ultra-fine spray cloud comprised of microscopic droplets that are so small, more than 15 individual droplets could fit on the head of a pin. The small size of the droplets allows them to float through the air for a short period of time so they can come in contact with flying adult mosquitoes. The droplet formulation is designed to pe*****te the cuticle of the mosquito, affecting its nervous system, knocking it down and ultimately delivering mortality. ULV applications for mosquito control use a very small amount of product and a very low amount of active ingredients. Mosquito control formulations use often contains less than 2% active ingredient, and applications put out 1 ounce of formulated product per land acre (about the size of a football field). The dose is extremely low because it is formulated to work specifically on mosquitoes. Night-time mosquito control treatments are conducted using Ultra-Low Volume (ULV) application equipment, typically mounted to the bed of a pick-up truck or an ATV. In some regions, fixed-wing aircraft are used to make night-time mosquito treatments in order to cover a large geographic area in a short window of time. In addition, some areas are also utilizing drone equipment for applications.
THE BENEFITS OF NIGHT-TIME MOSQUITO SPRAYING
The benefits of night-time mosquito spraying include:
• Applications are done after dusk or at dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Quickly and effectively reduce active mosquito populations to improve quality of life and prevent disease transmission.
• Sensitive insects like honeybees and butterflies are usually sheltered or not active when night-time mosquito spraying occurs, limiting the exposure risk.
• Very low dose rates are required for mosquito control.
• All products used are EPA registered for residential and wide-area public health mosquito control and go through thorough efficacy and environmental impact studies before being registered for use.
The trade-offs for night-time mosquito spraying include:
• Only effective on mosquitoes flying and active at the time of treatment – will not fully eliminate mosquito populations.
• Relief is temporary. Sprays will dissipate quickly through the treatment area (in 5-30 minutes, depending on weather conditions). They do not have any residual effect.
• Overnight application timing can leave residents wondering if they were actually treated.
What Weather conditions would delay treatment?
• Winds or gusts greater than 10 MPH
• Rain or Forecasted Rain
• Temperatures cooler than 60 degrees
HOW CAN I REDUCE MOSQUITOES IN MY YARD?
BUG ZAPPERS work
Eliminate stagnant water (the only place they lay eggs) by dumping birdbaths, kiddie pools, and clogged gutters weekly. Treat un-drainable water features with safe Mosquito Dunks. Hide from the sun in your yard by keeping bushes trimmed and grass short and set up natural botanical barrier sprays around your patio perimeter.
To naturally and permanently disrupt their life cycle and repel them from your property:
1. Disrupt Their Breeding Grounds
Mosquitoes require standing water to lay their eggs, which hatch into larvae within days.
• Dump and Scrub: Check areas around your yard in Portage, IN that collect water—such as wheelbarrows, tarp folds, unused planter saucers, and toys. Turn them over or empty them weekly.
• Maintain Water Features: If you have a pond or birdbath, keep the water moving or treat it with a natural larvicide like Mosquito Dunks, which use a biological soil bacteria (Bti) that targets mosquito larvae but is entirely safe for birds, fish, and pets.
2. Manage Your Landscaping
Adult mosquitoes hate direct sunlight and wind, so they spend their days resting on the undersides of leafy vegetation and tall grass.
• Yard Grooming: Mow your lawn regularly and keep weeds down to minimize shady resting spots.
• Pruning: Trim overgrown bushes, trees, and shrubs so that air and sunlight can circulate through your yard.
3. Plant Natural Repellents
Planting mosquito-deterring herbs and flowers around your seating areas releases natural oils into the air that confuse and repel them. Great options to plant around your Portage yard include:
• Lemon Balm and Lemongrass
• Catnip (which contains a highly effective natural compound called nepetalactone)
• Lavender
• Peppermint and Basil
• Marigolds
4. Use Botanical Yard Sprays
If you want to treat the perimeter of your yard, you can spray your lawn and shrubbery with plant-based essential oil concentrates. Products like EcoSMART Mosquito & Tick Control use organic plant oils (rosemary, peppermint, and thyme) that are perfectly safe to use around children and pets. You can also make your own spray using garlic juice, citric acid, and Castile soap to coat foliage without harming beneficial pollinators.
5. Create a Physical Barrier
• Run a Fan: Mosquitoes are weak flyers. Setting up a strong outdoor oscillating fan on your porch will completely disrupt their ability to fly and land on you.
• Targeted Traps: To actively draw them out of the environment without chemicals, consider a fan-based trap like the Dynatrap Insect Trap. Placed away from seating areas, these traps draw mosquitoes in with UV light or a CO2 source and trap them with a whisper-quiet fan.
Mosquitoes are not pleasant, especially trying to enjoy the outdoors. Welcome to nature. With the amount of rain received this summer, this pest is a nuisance at the current time in the entire region of Northwest Indiana. The city abatement program may reduce mosquito populations, but will never eliminate every mosquito from Portage in our efforts of control
Call now to connect with business.
