Communities worldwide are under increasing pressure to treat wastewater more efficiently and sustainably. Aging infrastructure, population growth, and tighter environmental regulations demand advanced purification technologies that deliver high performance in smaller footprints and at lower operating cost. In North America, many municipalities struggle to meet nutrient discharge limits while managing space and budget constraints.
Cyclor® Turbo, a next generation aerobic granular sludge system developed by SUEZ, answers this need: a compact, fixed level sequencing batch reactor that achieves up to four times the sludge settling velocity of conventional activated sludge systems, enabling high efficiency nutrient removal to meet targets of 1 mg/L Total Phosphorus and 10 mg/L Total Nitrogen, without relying on chemical reagents. This performance is achieved in a footprint roughly 50% smaller than traditional conventional activated sludge (CAS) and the technology adapts to shallow basins; these features enable flexibility across retrofits and new installations. By reconfiguring the SBR around granular sludge dynamics, Cyclor® Turbo routinely achieves low effluent concentrations, below 10 mg/L TN and under 15 mg/L TSS, while biologically removing phosphorus without routine reagent use, in about half the footprint and with reduced O&M compared with conventional SBRs.
SUEZ and Nexom have formed a strategic alliance to accelerate Cyclor® Turbo’s adoption in North America. With over 160 years of experience in designing, building, owning and operating water and wastewater facilities, SUEZ combines technology development and operational experience gained from thousands of facilities in more than 40 countries, ensuring innovations are field tested and performance driven. Nexom, an Axius Water company is the exclusive North American licensee for Cyclor® Turbo and brings deep expertise in biological wastewater treatment. Together, their collaboration pairs global engineering and local deployment excellence to bring a practical, scalable solution to protect the environment in communities facing urgent water challenges.
A milestone in France
In October 2025, Nexom engineering leaders traveled to France for an intensive, hands-on training session hosted by SUEZ. Held in Carcassonne at one of SUEZ’s operational facilities, the program provided practical experience with Cyclor® Turbo, aligned commissioning and maintenance practices, and deepened the technical collaboration between the two teams. The immersive exchange marked a turning point in the partnership, equipping Nexom with the tools and operational insights needed to deploy Cyclor® Turbo across North America.
Attendees included Nexom senior staff Damian Kruk, Ph.D., P.Eng., and Byron Heppner, Project Engineering Manager, working alongside SUEZ experts. The sessions were highly collaborative, with participants jointly exploring a calculation tool that models how inputs, such as influent quality, cycle timing, aeration hole spacing, and bed geometry, affect predicted effluent quality. Teams also worked together on water‑quality analysis, using microscopic examination of samples to monitor process effectiveness and troubleshoot issues, and exchanged practical insights on hydraulics and aeration best practices to minimize clogging and optimize performance. At the SUEZ Cyclor® Turbo facility lab, attendees had the opportunity to measure sludge settling rates and closely examine granules under a high-powered microscope, allowing them to analyze how different process adjustments affect performance.
Technology spotlight: What is Cyclor® Turbo
Cyclor® Turbo compresses a sequence of activated sludge reactions into a single fixed level sequencing batch reactor (SBR), delivering high-performance treatment in a fraction of the space. The system produces densified, fast settling biomass, partially granulated sludge with up to four times the settling velocity of conventional flocculated sludge, which enables excellent solids separation and reduced total suspended solids in the effluent. Cyclor® Turbo nitrifies, denitrifies, biologically removes phosphorus, and reduces solids with lower energy and chemical inputs than many alternatives, making it attractive for municipal and industrial applications, greenfield and retrofit projects, and SBR process intensification.
Operationally, Cyclor® Turbo maintains a constant water level through sequenced steps that optimize biological selection and performance:
- Feed & Draw: The reactor is fed from the bottom under the sludge blanket while clean water is drawn from the top, retaining heavy sludge and favoring phosphate accumulating organisms.
- Reaction: Aeration provides mixing and oxygenation for BOD removal, nitrification, and phosphate uptake while tuning conditions to promote denitrification.
- Settling: Aeration stops allowing rapid sludge settling and continued denitrification, producing a clear effluent.
Training success and partnership
Technically, the session met and exceeded expectations: participants walked away with standardized commissioning procedures, refined maintenance checklists, and confidence in collaborative problem resolution. Equally important was the trust that developed through joint, hands-on training exercises and the Carcassonne site visit. Experts from Nexom and SUEZ gained mutual respect as they worked side by side, aligning priorities and agreeing on best practices. That trust now underpins a working relationship geared toward rapid, reliable deployments and continuous performance improvement.
Damian Kruk, Ph.D., P.Eng., Senior Process Engineer at Nexom: “Partnership multiplies impact: by combining Nexom’s deep experience with SUEZ’s operational insight, we turn individual expertise into scalable solutions that deliver reliable, cost-effective clean water to communities faster than either of us could alone.”
Looking ahead: Pilot launching in 2026
The partnership’s work is already taking shape on the ground. Nexom is constructing the first full-scale North American demonstration facility for Cyclor® Turbo in East St. Paul, Manitoba, scheduled to be operational in 2026. This retrofit of an existing SBR will test the technology in a constrained footprint and face harsh winter conditions, with temperatures dropping well below freezing, providing a demanding real-world environment to validate the process and microbial resilience. Nexom and SUEZ are working as a single, aligned team to deliver a robust solution that meets the community’s needs.
Clean water future
The relationships and learnings forged in France will pay dividends far beyond a single installation. By aligning engineering detail with field realities, Nexom and SUEZ have created a repeatable model for international collaboration that shortens deployment timelines and delivers system reliability for communities like East St. Paul. This partnership is a clear signal: when companies cross cultural and geographic boundaries to share expertise and values, the path to universal access to clean water becomes faster and more certain. With Cyclor® Turbo as a focal point of that effort, the future of clean water looks both practical and within reach.
The Cyclor® Turbo training in France underscored that no single organization can solve the world’s water challenges alone. Bringing Nexom and SUEZ experts together created a cross-border exchange of technical knowledge, field experience, and operational best practices that amplified each partner’s strengths. That collaborative spirit, sharing lessons learned, aligning processes, and building mutual trust, is the foundation for scalable, resilient solutions that meet local needs while addressing global priorities.
