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It’s an American expression, dating in written form from the beginning of this century, though almost certainly older. Its original form was to be on the water-wagon, implying that the speaker was drinking water rather than alcohol and so was an abstainer, at least for the time being. I’ve not been able to trace its antecedents further back (my reference books are all strangely silent on the phrase), but a link with the temperance movement would seem likely. The Random House Webster’s dictionary says there’s a British equivalent on the water cart, which I’ve never heard and which is not in any of my other references, not even Partridge.
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