New Wide-Area Spray Truck Larviciding Technology

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

In response to the Zika Virus emergency, Broward County, Florida, Mosquito Control staff optimized turbine engine sprayers and developed a unique mobile mixing operation that delivers an organic, safe and biodegradable product to target and kill the mosquito larvae of Aedes aegypti, the known transmitter of the Zika virus. Because commercially available larvicide methods were inefficient and resulted in significant larvicide product waste, Mosquito Control staff modified turbine engine sprayers to fit the County’s needs. The modifications to the sprayers were engineered in-house by staff to reach the elusive “perfect droplet size” that can carry the larvicide into tiny containers and pockets of water where the mosquito breeds. Staff also developed a mixing operation for larvicide to deliver to locations where truck spraying occurs, rather than returning the trucks to refill the sprayers. This system has simplified the treatment of areas that were unreachable. Until now, these areas were treated manually, requiring intensive workforce walking house to house, or by aerial spraying which covers large tracts of land and is not effective in urban areas.