What pump did Leonardo da Vinci design to raise water?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a centrifugal pump to raise and move water.

A centrifugal pump uses a rotating impeller to give water speed and direct it outward, converting rotational motion into fluid flow. Leonardo’s drawings show an early concept based on a rotating element inside a casing. The design belongs to his broader studies of hydraulics, in which he examined streams, canals, fountains, eddies, and the movement of water through channels.

Leonardo did not develop the modern electric pumping systems used today. His mechanism would have required a separate power source, such as human, animal, or water power. The surviving drawings are also not identical to every later centrifugal pump, so historians generally describe them as an early design or precursor.

The centrifugal pump is sometimes confused with the Archimedes’ screw, another water-raising device. The screw lifts water through a helical surface, whereas a centrifugal pump accelerates water radially with a rotating impeller.