What type of water pump did Leonardo da Vinci design with a screw-shaped lifting principle?

Leonardo da Vinci designed an Archimedean screw pump using a screw-shaped lifting principle.

An Archimedean screw consists of a helical surface inside a tube or around a central shaft. As the screw turns, water is carried upward along the spiral. Leonardo studied and drew versions of this mechanism as part of his broader investigations into hydraulics and water management.

The principle was not Leonardo’s invention. It is traditionally attributed to Archimedes and was known long before the Renaissance. Leonardo’s importance here is his detailed examination of established machines and his attempts to adapt them for practical engineering problems.

The pump is sometimes confused with Leonardo’s other water machines, including centrifugal devices and hydraulic pumps based on pistons or valves. Those mechanisms move water differently. The defining feature of the Archimedean screw pump is the rotating helix that transports water upward, making the mechanism identifiable even when drawings vary in their construction.