1897: A new century was beckoning, an industrial revolution was rageing, factories were shooting up everywhere. In Amsterdam the first brick was layed for the Pumping Station. Ever since 1851, the Dune-water company had provided the people of Amsterdam with fresh drinking water from the dunes at Vogelenzang. Through 23 kilometers of cast iron piping, it was pumped into the city where it could be bought outside the Willemspoort at one cent per bucket. Forseeing an imminent increase in water- consumption (in which case the capacity of Vogelenzang would prove insufficient), manager J. van Hasselt had plans drawn up for a new pumping station in Amsterdam. In 1897, construction was started, and as early as 1900, the Pumping Station Haarlemmerweg went into operation.
Behind the main building there were four underground reservoirs, each holding about 10,000 cubic metres of dune water. This water could be forced into the city through huge pipes in the cellar and the old watertower by four pumps in the engine room (now the restaurant). Initially these pumps were steam-powered, the boiler being housed in the octagonal building in front of the station, but in 1940, the Pumping Station went electric. Pumps now ran on electricity, supplied by the powercompany. Two large diesel engines replaced the old steam turbines, but were only used in case of serious or prolonged power failure.