What water-lifting device did Leonardo da Vinci design with a rotating helical blade?

Leonardo da Vinci designed and studied an Archimedes’ screw for lifting water.

The device consists of a helical surface inside a cylinder or around a central shaft. As the screw turns, water is carried upward along the spiral. Leonardo’s notebooks contain studies of screw mechanisms and water machines, reflecting his broader interest in canals, drainage, irrigation, and hydraulic engineering.

The underlying machine was not Leonardo’s original invention. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes, the Greek mathematician and engineer who lived in the 3rd century BCE. Leonardo’s contribution was to analyze, draw, and adapt established hydraulic principles for Renaissance engineering projects.

The screw remains useful because it can lift water gently and handle debris better than some pump designs. Leonardo’s version should therefore be described as a study or design based on an older machine, not as the invention of the Archimedes’ screw itself. This distinction prevents a common attribution error.