Leonardo da Vinci designed a screw pump to raise water using a large Archimedes screw.
An Archimedes screw consists of a helical surface arranged inside or around a tube. As the screw turns, water is carried upward along the spiral. Leonardo studied and drew screw-based water-lifting mechanisms as part of his broader investigations into hydraulics and mechanical power.
The underlying principle was much older than Leonardo. The device is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BCE. Leonardo’s contribution was his detailed mechanical analysis and his adaptation of related screw mechanisms for practical engineering.
A screw pump does not create water; it moves water from a lower level to a higher one. This makes it different from Leonardo’s water-wheel and irrigation concepts, which used other methods to manage or transport water.