Hardware Podcasts

270: How Packaged MBRs are Revolutionizing Wastewater Treatment with Troy Ellison, Co-Founder & CEO of Cloacina

Manufacturing Happy Hour · 13 Jan 2026 · 45m

What this episode covers

Troy Ellison, Co-Founder & CEO of Cloacina, explains how his company revolutionized wastewater treatment by designing packaged Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs) around the end-user operator experience rather than just spreadsheet metrics. Ellison details the company's evolution from a small family operation building units in a backyard to a scaling manufacturing business of over 100 employees, emphasizing the challenges of hiring for cultural fit and maintaining a meritocratic culture. He discusses the strategic pivot to productizing their technology and taking on single-point liability to remove industry friction, while highlighting key partnerships with Rockwell Automation and Allen Bradley to ensure reliability and automation.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Cloacina, Rockwell Automation, Royal Group Technologies
Products
Membrane Bioreactors, Allen Bradley
Also
Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink

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