In the entire forty-five years we’ve been in business, Caliagua has worked very hard at one thing; earning the trust of our customers. People say we’ve done a pretty good job of that. We’ll let you be the judge. Take a look at some of the great customers we’ve had the pleasure to partner with over the years. Then take a look at some of the projects we’ve done for them and listen to what some of them have had to say about their experiences with us.
If you have a water treatment or sewage lifting project in or around Orange County, we’d like to add you to our list of customers we’ve been serving well for all these years and by all means feel free to get ahold of us!
Like most everyone around here, we’re transplants to Southern California. The founder, Oscar Bruner, and his wife, Susana, are originally from Argentina and emigrated to Southern California in 1963 with two young sons, Gus, and Andy Bruner. Oscar had previously been a pilot, flying for an Argentine airline. On arriving in California, Oscar initially looked for another position as a pilot. Oscar was offered a position with the cargo carrier, Flying Tigers (then owned by the US military and later acquired by Federal Express). Many of Flying Tigers’ deliveries went to combat areas. During a background check and discovery that Oscar had two children, he was excluded from flying for them. Oscar had an engineering degree, and natural math skills that he quickly put to use when he went to work for Brown and Caldwell, in Pasadena. One of his first major projects was working as a project engineer on a waterwork project.
From Brown and Caldwell, Oscar went to work for Pylon. Pylon was heavily involved in water and wastewater plant construction and was also involved as a subcontractor for the construction of launch pads at Vandenburg Air Force Base. When Pylon shut its doors in 1977, Oscar chose the moment to pursue a long-term plan he’d had of launching his own business with silent partners he’d known from his time at Pylon; John and Floyd Doty. This is how Caliagua came to exist.
The partnership with Oscar, John, and Floyd lasted until 1984. In order to pursue contracts set aside for minority contractors, Oscar had to acquire the interest held in the business by John and Floyd Doty. However, the Bruner-Doty team did not end there. They began another venture as the “Bruner/Doty Partnership” and developed property together.
Taking full ownership of Caliagua gave Oscar the opportunity to qualify for more projects and, happily, the work also followed. Our work has always been in the water treatment industry, and our early customers included Rancho California Water District, Irvine Ranch Water District, Chino Basin (IEUA), Eastern Municipal Water District, and the City of Whittier. Dozens of additional customers came as the years went by.
Oscar’s unique combination of discipline, organization, caution, and very high standards are what allowed our company to survive those crucial early years when most start-ups fail. By 1985, the company needed additional management and Oscar started bringing his sons into the business.
This began with his son, Andy, who had recently graduated from UCI with a civil engineering degree. Prior to joining Caliagua, Andrew had brief work experiences as an EIT at Cal-Trans, and Sidawi & Associates. Andy joined the firm as a Project Engineer/Manager. Gus recalls Andrew’s eternal optimism, effort, and unwavering interest and faith in the family business. I knew I could always trust and depend on Andrew to do what it takes to get the job done.
In 1986, Oscar’s eldest son, Gus, who had graduated several years previously from Cal State Fullerton with a BA in Accounting, was also hired into the firm. Gus brought his previous work experience as a Laborer for Doty Bros Pipeline Co.; Public Accounting work with KPMG (formerly Peat, Marwick & Mitchell), Miranda Accountancy Corp. (a small Santa Ana, CA-based firm), and as the controller for Robison-Prezioso; now known as Cor-Ray Painting.
In an interview with Gus, he remembered those early times fondly and said, “The three of us working together in the business was filled with good and hard times. Like any small, family-run business, we all had overlapping and concurrent responsibilities. As opportunities occurred, we divided the work, Andrew became more responsible for the public works projects; while I focused on our relationship with Turner Construction.” Caliagua became heavily involved as a sub-contractor to Turner between 1990-1997. The Caliagua – Turner Const. the relationship ended in 1997-98 following the reconstruction and upgrades to Anaheim Stadium, following Walt Disney Company’s purchase of the Angels from Gene Autry.
The addition of younger management, and experience in the latest software applications, gave Caliagua fresh perspectives and a keener competitive edge. For example, Gus brought his experience in computerized accounting (still a relatively new technology) with him. In the early 1990s, he also introduced project management and scheduling software into the firm’s processes. By 1995, Caliagua had instituted computerized estimating across all its projects.
For the last ten years, Caliagua has continued to grow stronger, adding new project manager positions, building out a highly effective construction crew, and turning out excellent finished projects. We continue to win new contracts and are proud of the fact that many of our clients have continued to award us business over the years. Our future has never looked brighter.
In 2023, we celebrated our 45th year in business and we still adhere to the same set of values that Oscar and his sons used to guide our early growth including:
Ensuring access to clean, safe water and maintaining environmental sustainability, these trusted partners have all called on Caliagua for one water solution or another. We’ve been helping with large projects all the way to system maintenance and management since 1978.
Meet the passionate team behind Caliagua – a group of water treatment experts dedicated to sustainable solutions and exceptional service. With decades of combined experience, our engineers, technicians, and support staff work closely to deliver customized systems tailored to your needs. At Caliagua, collaboration and innovation drive everything we do.