Summertime fun can turn uncomfortable with mosquitoes around. The mosquitoes that transmit Zika and Dengue fever only need a small amount of water to lay their eggs, so clearing your yard of free standing water will make for a much better summer.
Any containers where rainwater can collect, such as buckets, plastic covers, flower pots, and even old tires, need to be dumped out or need to go. Yes, that old tire is an almost perfect mosquito breeding ground as it collects water and incubates eggs.
There are many ways residents living in unincorporated Palm Beach County can get rid of their unwanted old tires.
- Put old tires out with the trash on either garbage collection day - up to two tires, off the rim, are collected curbside per year for FREE.
- Take old tires to the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County’s Customer Convenience Drop-off Center at the landfill. There will be a charge at this location.
- Whole passenger tires or whole truck tires without rims will be charged the “passenger tire” rate of $35/ton or $3.50/cubic yard. This is about $2.27 per tire.
- Oversized tires or mixed load tires will be charged a higher rate ($190/ton or $27/cubic yard).
- Passenger tires, including tractor trailer tires, cut into four or more substantially equal pieces or oversized/off-road tires shredded to less than 4” x 4” x 2” pieces will be charged $10/ton or $5/cubic yard.
(NOTE: there are specific laws that commercial businesses have to follow)A single mosquito that carries Zika can lay 100 to 300 eggs at a time, but she needs standing water to do so. Then it takes only 7 days, during warm weather, for eggs to mature into adults. Eliminating that standing water around your home can reduce your exposure to mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.
Other mosquito and Zika virus information can be found online:
