Building, now converted into a museum, it was the pump room of the company that supplied drinking water to Montevideo, between 1871 and 1950. In a first time business was owned by Uruguayans, "Lezica, Lanus and Fynn" and from 1879 was owned by an English company, "The Montevideo Waterworks Co Ltd" to become Uruguayan state-owned since 1950. Now the drinking water system is controlled by a state agency called "OSE, Obras Sanitarias del Estado" which means state sanitary works.