What kind of pump did Leonardo da Vinci design for moving water with a screw mechanism?

Leonardo da Vinci studied and designed versions of the Archimedes’ screw for moving water with a screw mechanism.

An Archimedes’ screw consists of a helical surface inside or around a cylinder. As the screw turns, water is carried upward along the spiral and discharged at a higher level. Leonardo’s notebooks contain studies of screw mechanisms and water-lifting machines, reflecting his interest in hydraulics, geometry, and mechanical power.

The device was not Leonardo’s original invention. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BCE. Leonardo’s importance here is his analysis and development of hydraulic machinery during the Renaissance, not the invention of the ancient screw itself.

The screw works best for lifting water through a relatively modest height and can also move slurries or granular materials. It differs from a modern centrifugal pump, which uses a rotating impeller to increase fluid velocity and pressure. Leonardo’s water-machine studies belong to a long engineering tradition connecting ancient devices with Renaissance experimentation.