Muhlenberg College
IN-26: Innovation C

Muhlenberg College has constructed an innovative stormwater management detention pond system, which is unique in stormwater management technologies, to ensure that the watershed water remains clean and not overwhelmed. The Lehigh Valley, where Muhlenberg College is located, has a bedrock of limestone, which makes stormwater management challenging. Concentrating stormwater on campus can result in sinkholes. At the same time, Cedar Creek, part of our watershed, is subject to frequent flooding. The retention pond is located at the bottom of a hill and most of Muhlenberg's stormwater rolls down that hill on its way to Cedar Creek. Muhlenberg instead installed the retention pond and soaker pipe to divert the stormwater without creating sinkholes. The water from the retention pond is pumped up to the soaker pipe at the top of the hill and then the collected water is dribbled and sprayed on a large surrounding area. In this way, the stormwater is filtered through the plant life and groundwater without creating a sinkhole or overwhelming the creek. This arrangement is unique and innovative in that no one else, to our knowledge, has utilized this type of technology to filter and divert stormwater in Pennsylvania.