Tainan Mountain Garden Waterway Museum Introduction
Located beside County Road 178, easily overlooked, the Century-old Historic Site - the Former Tainan Waterway, is an important monument witnessing the development of water conservancy in the Greater Tainan area. After its retirement, it has transformed into a historical atmosphere-filled Waterworks Museum. The well-preserved Baroque-style factory building retains a complete set of machinery, which are rare antiques that evoke nostalgia. The so-called waterway refers to five facilities of the water supply system, including the water intake facilities, sedimentation tanks, filtration chambers, pumping chambers, and the water purification pool. The historical value of the monument includes its various buildings, Western-style reinforced concrete, red brick houses, stone roofed structures, and well-preserved machinery, including 14 British rapid filters and components, a movable crane in the courtyard, and vertical electric motor units. These tools are precious cultural heritage in Taiwan's water supply industry. To visit the water purification pool, one must climb the 189-step water purification pool trail, which leads to a gray building constructed of natural stone and imitation stone blocks, solid as a fortress. On either side of the water purification pool, there is a water quality testing laboratory, topped with earth and vegetation, featuring 59 cast iron vent columns. Above the entrance to the water purification well behind the pool, there is a circular emblem in the center of the gable with the words "南水" (Southern Water) carved in cement, which is the emblem of the "Tainan Waterway," recounting the glorious history that the Tainan Waterway once had for visitors. As for "The Father of Taiwanese Waterways - Yasushiro Hinode," Yasushiro Hinode (1863–1932), acclaimed as the Father of Taiwanese Waterways, was born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering at the Imperial University of Tokyo. In 1896, Hinode came to Taiwan as an assistant to the British William Barton and served as an engineer in the Civil Engineering Department of the Governor-General of Taiwan. During his 23 years of work in Taiwan, he participated in and completed important waterway projects in Keelung, Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and made significant contributions to Taiwan's waterway system.
