Leonardo da Vinci designed a version of the Archimedes’ screw to produce a continuous stream of water for irrigation.
An Archimedes’ screw is a rotating helical device that lifts water along an inclined tube or trough. Leonardo studied and illustrated screw-based water-lifting machinery, adapting the ancient principle for Renaissance engineering. As the screw turns, water becomes trapped between the spiral and its casing and is carried upward.
The underlying invention predates Leonardo by many centuries and is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse. Leonardo therefore did not originate the principle, but he contributed detailed studies and mechanical designs that helped explain how such machinery could be built and used.
Archimedes’ screws remain useful because they can move water with relatively simple, robust machinery. They are used in drainage, irrigation, wastewater treatment, and fish passage. This makes the device a good example of Leonardo’s role as an investigator and adapter of existing engineering ideas rather than the original inventor of every machine he drew.