What Leonardo da Vinci device was designed to raise water using a helical screw?

Leonardo da Vinci studied Archimedes’ screw as a device for raising water with a helical surface.

The Archimedes’ screw is an ancient water-lifting machine consisting of a rotating spiral inside a tube or trough. As the screw turns, water is carried upward from a lower level to a higher one. Leonardo drew and investigated screw-based water devices as part of his engineering studies, adapting and analyzing mechanisms known from classical technology.

The machine is not an invention originally created by Leonardo. Its name honors Archimedes, who is traditionally associated with the device, although the precise ancient history is debated and earlier examples may have existed. Leonardo’s importance lies in his detailed Renaissance study and mechanical treatment of the principle.

This device is easily confused with Leonardo’s aerial screw. The two share a helical form, but the water screw transports liquid while the aerial screw was intended to generate upward motion through air.