What rotating machine did Leonardo da Vinci sketch for lifting water?

Leonardo da Vinci sketched an Archimedes’ screw as a rotating machine for lifting water.

An Archimedes’ screw consists of a helical surface inside a tube or around a central shaft. When the screw rotates, water caught between the turns moves upward. Leonardo studied and drew this ancient lifting principle, showing how it could be used in hydraulic engineering and water management.

The device was not Leonardo’s original invention. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes, the Greek mathematician and engineer who lived in the third century BCE. Leonardo’s contribution was to record, analyze, and adapt many mechanical and hydraulic ideas during the Renaissance.

The screw differs from Leonardo’s aerial screw, which was a proposed flying machine. Although both designs use a spiral form, the Archimedes’ screw moves water and the aerial screw was intended to move through air. Modern screw pumps continue to use the same basic principle in drainage, irrigation, and wastewater systems.