Production of urease enzyme from ureolytic bacteria (e.g. Sporosarcina pasteurii ) is essential for precipitation of CaCO 3 . This bioprocess is notably utilized for soil improvement, biocementation and bioremediation of heavy metals. Despite the viability for field-scale implementation as a suitable alternative to conventional treatment methods, most reports in the literature are constrained to laboratory-scale. Thus, this study demonstrates an economic strategy to scale-up the production and cultivation of ureolytic bacteria using a custom-built stainless steel stirred tank reactor (3 m 3 ). Scalability of the bacterial cells was carried out from 214 L to 2400 L seed cultures for 90 h. Technical-grade ingredients (food-grade yeast extract media and chemicals) were used for scale-up production of the bacterial cells. The growth profile, pH and urease activity were subsequently monitored throughout the in-situ production period. Biocementation on sand mould specimens was also performed using bacterial cultures obtained from the reactor and low-grade cementation reagents. The sand columns were grouped into different treatment cycles to determine the effect of ureolysis. CaCO 3 content, effluent pH and microstructural analyses (scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) of the treated soil samples were also evaluated. The results show that scale-up production of ureolytic bacteria cells under non-sterile conditions using a custom-built reactor for industrial MICP application is feasible. • A custom-built reactor (3 m 3 ) was used to cultivate Sporosarcina pasteurii. • Urease activity was 11.1 ± 0.48 mM urea hydrolysed min −1 at the end of cultivation. • CaCO 3 content for treated mould samples ranged from 19.0 ± 1.58% to 39.4 ± 1.88%. • SEM analysis showed irregular, elemental rhombohedral and polyhedral CaCO 3 crystals.