Leonardo da Vinci designed a chain pump with a chain carrying containers to lift water.
A chain pump raises water by moving a continuous loop through a lower water source and upward. Small containers, plates, or linked elements attached to the chain carry water to a higher level, where it is discharged. Leonardo studied related mechanisms for irrigation and drainage.
Chain pumps were known in ancient China and other earlier engineering traditions, so Leonardo did not invent the basic device. His notebooks show how Renaissance engineers analyzed and adapted established mechanical principles using gears, chains, and power sources.
The chain pump differs from an Archimedes’ screw, which lifts water inside a rotating helical surface. It also differs from a water wheel, whose main function is usually to extract energy from flowing water rather than raise water in containers.