What Leonardo da Vinci device was designed to create a continuous stream of water for irrigation?

Leonardo da Vinci studied Archimedes’ screw as a device for raising water continuously.

An Archimedes’ screw consists of a helical surface wrapped around a shaft inside a tube or trough. When the screw rotates, pockets of water move upward along the spiral. The device can provide a steady flow for irrigation, drainage, or other water-lifting tasks.

Leonardo did not invent the screw. It is traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes, who is said to have developed or improved the device in the third century BCE. Leonardo’s contribution was his detailed investigation of water machines, screw geometry, and practical mechanisms in Renaissance engineering drawings.

The screw differs from a wheel-and-chain lifting device, another kind of water machine associated with Leonardo’s studies. It also differs from the aerial screw, whose spiral form was used to explore vertical flight. Similar geometry appears in both, but their purposes are different: one moves water along a channel, while the other was a speculative flying-machine concept.