What mechanical device did Leonardo da Vinci design to raise water using a screw-shaped rotor?

Leonardo da Vinci studied and designed versions of Archimedes' screw, a device that raises water with a rotating spiral surface.

An Archimedes' screw consists of a helical blade inside a tube or around a central shaft. As the screw turns, water is carried upward along the spiral. Leonardo investigated water movement extensively and drew screw-based mechanisms for lifting and transporting water.

The basic machine was not invented by Leonardo. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BCE. Leonardo's contribution was to study, adapt, and depict mechanical water-raising ideas within his broader work on hydraulics and engineering.

This distinction matters because Leonardo is often credited too broadly for devices he redesigned rather than originated. His notebooks contain many observations of established machines alongside original mechanisms, and the Archimedes' screw is a clear example of his role as an inventive engineer and careful technical observer.