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CapitalPress.com
February 3, 2017
Grower turns to tank technology for irrigation
By GAIL OBERST
For the Capital Press
DALLAS, Ore. — Bogdan
Caceu searched the world to
solve an irrigation problem on
his farm.
It makes sense that Ca-
ceu would look for solutions
abroad. His father’s family
had once owned large or-
chards in Transylvania, a re-
gion of Romania, that were
confiscated by the commu-
nists in the 1940s, before Ca-
ceu was born.
“You hear that story as a
kid, how we lost these beauti-
ful orchards to this violent re-
gime. Farming has been in the
back of my mind for a long
time,” Caceu said.
His father was an engineer,
On the cover
On the cover is a photo of
the cover used on the water
storage tank Bogdan Caceu
built on his Dallas, Ore., farm.
Courtesy of Michelle Davis
Construction of the water storage tank on a small farm near Dallas,
Ore., took one day, a few friends and common tools.
and Caceu was trained to be a
lawyer. But with a dream to
farm, in 2009 he purchased
a plot of land southwest of
Dallas, on the north fork of
Ash Creek, which eventually
flows into the Willamette Riv-
er at Independence. Despite
inexperience, he connected
with experts in the area who
have helped him turn 45 acres
of scotch broom and blackber-
ries into La Creole Orchards.
The work in progress includes
olives and truffle-inoculated
oak trees, among other crops.
From the beginning, Ca-
ceu was faced with irrigation
woes common to the North-
west. Even after drilling three
wells, he was only able to
draw 3 to 4 gallons per minute
— far too little to keep thirsty
young plants hydrated. De-
voted to inexpensive and en-
vironmentally safe methods,
he looked for tanks in which
to save his well water during
the rainy season, so he could
apply it in the dry summer.
Unfortunately, many storage
tanks, geared for larger farms
and industries, were unwieldy
and expensive.
Caceu was undeterred. He
searched the world’s water
conservation companies and
eventually put together a pilot
project to build a simple, in-
expensive water storage sys-
tem that holds 35,000 gallons.
“It doesn’t get us through
the entire season, but I wanted
to see how inexpensive and
easy to build it could be,” Ca-
ceu said.
The system includes
Netherlands-based
BuWa-
Tec pre-fabricated tanks that
can be built in place in a day.
Concentric circles of corru-
gated steel are quickly bolt-
ed together and a liner is in-
stalled. A cover keeps water
cool, algae-free, and reduces
evaporation to a minimum —
anywhere between 15 and 30
percent can be lost from an
uncovered tank due to evap-
oration, so covers are import-
ant.
But the mesh-fabric cov-
er the tank came with must
be removed occasional-
ly to avoid collapse due to
snow and ice. Instead of that
work-intensive option, Ca-
ceu settled on 7-inch-wide
floating plastic hexagons that
cover the surface, made by
Denmark-based Hexa-Cover.
Caceu estimated the entire
system cost less than $16,000
and could be put together by a
few people using simple tools.
To round out the water
storage project, Caceu in-
stalled a solar-powered pump-
ing system from the Danish
company Grundfos. The solar
panels run the pumps in the
wells using less power than a
light bulb and operate even on
cloudy days.
“We get to start the first
day of irrigation season with a
full tank,” said Caceu.
Caceu’s other efforts to
conserve water on his land in-
clude a drip and micro-spray
system that delivers precise
water and nutrients without
any runoff. Also in the offing
are projects related to the Con-
servation Reserve Program, a
voluntary incentive program
for farmers, managed by fed-
eral and state agencies.
A nod to his innovation,
Caceu is the winner of Polk
Soil and Water Conservation
District’s 2015 Conservation
Award. He serves as executive
director of the Olive Growers
of Oregon, the nonprofit that
represents the pioneering ol-
ive growers in the state.
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