What lifting device did Leonardo da Vinci design with a screw-shaped mechanism for raising water?

Leonardo da Vinci designed an Archimedes’ screw as a lifting device for raising water.

An Archimedes’ screw uses a helical surface inside a tube or around a central shaft. When the screw rotates, water is carried upward from a lower level to a higher one. Leonardo studied and drew versions of the mechanism as part of his extensive investigations into pumps, canals, fountains, and hydraulic engineering.

The principle was not Leonardo's original invention. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who is said to have developed the device in antiquity. Leonardo's importance lies in his detailed Renaissance analysis and adaptation of the mechanism for practical water-lifting applications.

This device is sometimes confused with Leonardo's aerial screw, which was a speculative flying-machine concept. The water screw works through a rotating helix that transports liquid; the aerial screw was intended to interact with air. Their shared shape explains the similar terminology, but their purposes were completely different.