Where a Dime Still Buys a Gallon of Fresh, Cool Artesian Spring Water

There aren’t any fancy delivery trucks or men in uniforms lugging five-gallon plastic jugs or anybody talking about reverse osmosis at Indian Rock Springs, but to a lot of her fans, Sue Hogsett is the queen of drinking water.

The elderly woman who dresses like a lady sells artesian spring water out of a couple of garden hoses. It’s yours for 10 cents a gallon, if you can cart it away. Just drop your dime in the slot and, if you forgot your change this time, try to remember next week.

Hogsett will probably make a thousand dimes today, thanks to her flock of loyal customers who come to her little water store from all around North County--and from as far away as Anaheim, like the fellow who comes by every couple of weeks.

They know their water and they say Hogsett’s is the best.

Maybe. It’s an arguable point, just like who’s got the best wine in Fallbrook or the best apples in Julian.

But there’s no arguing that Hogsett may have the best deal in town for drinking water, short of cupping your hands in a mountain stream. At 10 cents a gallon, it’s a fraction of the price of bottled water off supermarket shelves, machines that dispense water or the mega-jugs that are delivered to homes and offices.

And Hogsett doesn’t figure on getting rich on her little earthly endeavor, especially after you figure in the cost of water filtering, the maintenance work and the regularly scheduled lab tests to make sure the water is fit for sale. (It is safe, but because of fluctuating nitrate levels, the water is not recommended for infants under six months of age.)

“We’ve turned our backs on inflation,” proclaims a yellowed business card on the wall of the small wooden building that encases the springs.

“Hopefully the water won’t dry up, and if there’s a water shortage, I’ll share it with people,” said Hogsett. “The Lord’s been awfully good to me, so I’ve got to pass it on.”

She’s not losing sleep over missed profit--or, for that matter, whether people even leave their dimes in the slot on the side of the building. “I don’t question anyone’s integrity. But I get notes from people saying they didn’t pay this week so they’ll pay it next time. You just can’t worry about those little things.”

Marilyn Bouet is a typical customer of Indian Rock Springs. She’s been coming to the little white building in the 1000 block of Rock Springs Road since 1949, back in the day when folks dropped their coins through a knothole in the wall.

“I can’t afford to have water delivered to me and, besides, this is better water anyway,” said Bouet. “And you can’t beat the price.”

Rita Robertson sits in the car while her husband, Sam, fills up a bunch of jugs in the trunk. “This is the most beautiful spot in Escondido,” she said, looking out over a grove of eucalyptus trees and large boulders.

“We had a well back east, in Massachusetts, so we know good water,” Sam Robertson said. “And this is it. We won’t drink city water--and you wouldn’t either, if you knew what was in it.”

Bert Ebbers of San Marcos, filling up a half-dozen Sparkletts water containers with Indian Springs water instead, looked worried about the presence of a reporter and photographer. “Oh, don’t put the word out on this place,” he said, concerned that it would draw more customers and increase the wait in line.

Indeed, the springs has become increasingly popular through word of mouth over the years, and there’s never been any need for formal advertising. Hogsett herself declines to be photographed.

History of the springs is traced back to when Indians in the 19th Century gathered around the boulders, leaving behind relics of their visits. Early this century, a small country fair was held at the site with the springs serving as a lily-pond centerpiece. Throughout the years, neighbors would come down to the rocks with their own buckets to fill from the spring-fed creek.

Around 1920 a new owner of the property bottled the water and trucked it into downtown Escondido. He did especially well with summertime sales, when the town’s main sources of drinking water turned smelly in the heat and thirsty residents looked to the fresher, artesian water for refreshment.

In 1958, Albert Hogsett--an art director for 20th-Century Fox whose career drew to a close because of worsening eyesight--came to Escondido to retire. He bought the property and its spring, and made water sales his livelihood--at a dime a gallon. Four years later, Sue Hogsett, herself a wardrobe manager and customer who won professional acclaim for her work on the television series “Adventures in Paradise,” joined her husband in Escondido.

Albert Hogsett, an engineer and architect by education, reconstructed the building that houses the springs, and renovated the filtration system that cleanses the water from the 400-foot-deep springs before it is bled out of the hoses.

He died six years ago, and his widow has maintained the business. “I’m not making a fabulous living, but I certainly don’t want for anything,” she said.

And she can hardly be accused of high-pressure sales. “The water tastes good, it’s priced reasonably and it’s a nice place to come to,” she says, mustering all the hype she can.