July 23, 2010
For Immediate Release

By Christina Miller, office assistant

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky.— Campbellsville University is becoming more environmentally friendly with the installment of a new storm drain system, which will store rain water for use in irrigation and landscaping.

“Rain water usually soaks into the ground, but adding more surfaces such as parking lots and roofs forces water to flow into creeks,” Marion Hall, director of special projects at Campbellsville University, said. “It's not the water that bothers; it's the mud and contaminants that it takes with it.”

Now Campbellsville University will actually be saving water and collecting it with the new storm drain system.

“Instead of buying water from the city, we're using rain water. We're going to take it and turn it back for irrigation for landscaping and plant watering,” Hall said. “It saves money and we don't contaminate Buckhorn Creek.”

Curbs will be built around parking lots so the water can be caught in basins and directed to an underground storage system. The system will hold 12,000 gallons of water, which is adequate for what is needed to irrigate, Hall said.

The system “had to be done anyway” so storing the water is a minimal cost, merely the cistern itself which consists of two 36-inch pipes, 100 feet long.

Rob Roberts, director of grounds and landscape development at Campbellsville University, said the new system will “cut down the amount of water we'll need.”

Hall said the system will use 25 percent less water.

Otto Tennant, vice president for finance and administration, said, “This is a way we can be environmentally correct.”

John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, has also talked to state organizations interested in using this as an educational program, hopefully getting more schools and industries to “go green.”

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with over 3,000 students offering 44 undergraduate programs, 16 master's degrees and four postgraduate areas. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.