Leonardo da Vinci designed a screw pump to raise water using the principle associated with Archimedes’ screw.
A screw pump moves water upward through a rotating helical surface inside a tube or trough. Leonardo studied water-lifting machines and drew versions that applied this principle to practical engineering. Such devices could support irrigation, drainage, and the movement of water around construction sites.
Leonardo did not invent the underlying screw principle. Archimedes is traditionally associated with the water screw, which was known in the ancient world. Leonardo’s contribution was to analyze and adapt mechanical forms in detail during the Renaissance.
The design is different from a water wheel, which extracts energy from moving water, and from a force pump, which uses pressure and valves. A screw pump actively lifts water through the turning motion of its helical surface.