What rotating device did Leonardo da Vinci sketch to raise water from a lower level?

Leonardo da Vinci’s rotating water-raising device is an Archimedes’ screw.

An Archimedes’ screw uses a helical surface inside a tube or cylinder. When the screw rotates, water is carried upward along the spiral from a lower level to a higher one. Leonardo studied and drew screw-based mechanisms as part of his extensive investigations into water, hydraulics, and engineering.

The invention was not originally Leonardo’s. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BCE. Leonardo’s contribution was to analyze, adapt, and depict mechanisms within Renaissance engineering studies. He also explored related devices for canals, drainage, irrigation, and construction.

A screw pump is not the same as a water wheel. A water wheel is powered by moving water and converts that energy into rotation, while an Archimedes’ screw uses rotation to lift water. The device remains useful today for moving water and some solids because it can operate with relatively low lift and substantial flow.