Leonardo da Vinci designed a screw pump to lift water using rotating spiral motion.
A screw pump moves liquid along the inside of a helical surface or screw as the mechanism turns. Leonardo studied water-lifting machines as part of his investigations into hydraulics, canals, irrigation, and the movement of fluids. His drawings show how mechanical rotation could be converted into a useful upward flow.
The design should not be confused with Leonardo’s aerial screw, which was a proposed flying machine based on a rotating helical surface. The two ideas share spiral geometry but have different purposes: one moves water, while the other was intended to interact with air.
Leonardo was not the first person to study screw-based water lifting. Earlier devices, especially the Archimedean screw, had already been known for centuries. Leonardo’s contribution was to analyze and redesign hydraulic machinery within his broader program of Renaissance engineering studies.