The original "Taipei Water Source Site Pumping Room" was built in 1908, when Taiwan was ruled by Japan. The birth of Taipei City's modern drinking-water facilities was in 1895, when Japan took over Taiwan. In order to improve the city's sanitary conditions, the Japanese government began to map out waterworks for drinking water and commissioned a Scotsman, William K. Burton, to conduct a survey of Taiwan's sanitary engineering. Based on Burton's suggestion, a water-intake unit was established in 1907 at the foot of Guanyinshan by the Xindian River (Xindianxi) to pump water to the purification plant on Guanyinshan, then pump the treated water upward to the reservoir on the hilltop, and supply water to the city through natural gravitational force. The Taipei Water Source Site Pumping Room where the pumping equipment was placed was retired from service in 1977, when the intake unit was relocated to Qingtan Dam on the upper reaches of Xiandianxi due to increasing pollution on the downstream Xindianxi section. It later became today's Museum of Drinking Water.