Leonardo da Vinci designed a water screw to lift water using screw-like blades.
His notebooks contain studies of helical devices that could raise water from a lower level to a higher one. As the screw rotated, its spiral surfaces would carry water upward through a surrounding channel or tube. Such a mechanism could support drainage, irrigation, and other hydraulic work.
Leonardo did not invent the basic water screw. The device is traditionally associated with Archimedes, who is said to have used or described a related mechanism in antiquity. Leonardo’s importance lies in his detailed Renaissance investigations and adaptations of screw-based machines.
The water screw belongs to a large body of Leonardo’s hydraulic studies, which included canals, pumps, fountains, and systems for controlling water. Modern versions still use the same general principle, especially in low-head pumping applications.