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

- Show: [Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour)
- Published: 2026-01-13
- Length: 45m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-01-13-270-how-packaged-mbrs-are-revolutionizing-wastewater-treatment-with-troy-ellison
- Listen: http://manufacturinghappyhour.com

## Summary

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.

## Chapters

- [2:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-01-13-270-how-packaged-mbrs-are-revolutionizing-wastewater-treatment-with-troy-ellison#t=134) Introduction: Troy Ellison and Cloacina's Origin Story
- [7:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-01-13-270-how-packaged-mbrs-are-revolutionizing-wastewater-treatment-with-troy-ellison#t=450) The Race Car Analogy and Operator-Centric Design
- [13:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-01-13-270-how-packaged-mbrs-are-revolutionizing-wastewater-treatment-with-troy-ellison#t=785) Building Culture and Hiring for Openness
- [23:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-01-13-270-how-packaged-mbrs-are-revolutionizing-wastewater-treatment-with-troy-ellison#t=1430) Scaling from Backyard to 100+ Employees
- [32:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-01-13-270-how-packaged-mbrs-are-revolutionizing-wastewater-treatment-with-troy-ellison#t=1973) Single-Point Liability and Extreme Ownership
- [39:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2026-01-13-270-how-packaged-mbrs-are-revolutionizing-wastewater-treatment-with-troy-ellison#t=2391) Productizing MBRs and the Future of Automation

## Topics

- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Cloacina (company)
- Membrane Bioreactors (product)
- Rockwell Automation (company)
- Allen Bradley (product)
- Royal Group Technologies (company)
- Extreme Ownership (other)
- Jocko Willink (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [The Waste Management Industry with Jeff Satwicz, Co-Founder of Bigbelly](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2022-06-23-the-waste-management-industry-with-jeff-satwicz-co-founder-of-bigbelly) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [319 - the Legendary Michael Houston went from Engineer to Entrepreneur and invented a shower on the go!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2025-07-30-319-the-legendary-michael-houston-went-from-engineer-to-entrepreneur-and-invente) (People of Packaging)
- [S2E36 Shaking Things Up As We Get to Know Aaron Moncur](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-08-23-s2e36-shaking-things-up-as-we-get-to-know-aaron-moncur) (Being an Engineer)
- [EMS@C-Level 2022 Season, episode 3 - Mike Konrad on Thirty Years of Aqueous Technologies](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2022-05-18-ems-c-level-2022-season-episode-3-mike-konrad-on-thirty-years-of-aqueous-technol) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [25 - Michael Hughes CEO of Elevation Labs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2020-06-13-25-michael-hughes-ceo-of-elevation-labs) (People of Packaging)

## Citing this page

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