More than half a million dollars set to upgrade wastewater treatment plant in Vienna

VIENNA, Md. – Money is being poured into the town of Vienna to help strengthen the area’s water quality.

This funding means cleaner water for Vienna. It’s half a million dollars set to upgrade their waste treatment plants, something one business owner tells me was long overdue.

“The topic of water was always one of the main things to be discussed,” says Caitlin LaComb, owner of Mandala Pies. She also says water quality has been discussed since she opened her doors in 2020.

Now the town of Vienna is receiving $527.425 for wastewater treatment upgrades. Its purpose is to help improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay, so this is the first phase, and this is the design phase for the upgrades for the treatment plant in Vienna,” says Delegate Tom Hutchinson.

Freshman Delegate Tom Hutchinson says this will help with nutrient removal, reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous in the Nanticoke River and the Chesapeake Bay. Mandala Pies already filters their water. “We filter everything, so by the time we use it, it’s filtered out, and super great quality, to be able to bake with. I do know we would never like drinking straight tap water, we wouldn’t have done that,” says LaComb.

She says this is bigger than how her business operates with clean water she believes the community in Vienna will be able to expand. “Potential for new people to come in, it means like healthier humans, like not just the current generations that are there but like if you don’t have clean water that can affect your future generations,” she adds.

It’s a future that Delegate Hutchinson says these upgrades will help protect. “It’s going to improve the quality of life for us on the Eastern Shore, it’s going to improve the Bay, its just good for the environment that we have the best technology for our wastewater treatment plants,” he says.

Delegate Tom Hutchinson says this is the first of many upgrades. He says there are many aging wastewater treatment plants in his district that he fully supports also receiving these upgrades.

The project is targeted to be completed in September 2025.