What water-lifting machine did Leonardo da Vinci study based on a spiral?

Leonardo da Vinci studied the Archimedes’ screw as a spiral water-lifting machine.

An Archimedes’ screw consists of a helical surface inside a cylinder or wrapped around a shaft. When rotated, it carries water upward from a lower level to a higher one. Leonardo drew and analyzed versions of the mechanism as part of his extensive work on hydraulics, canals, pumps, and water power.

The machine was not Leonardo’s original invention. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BCE. Leonardo’s contribution was to examine, adapt, and document hydraulic machinery in the context of Renaissance engineering problems.

The screw should not be confused with a water wheel. A water wheel extracts energy from moving water, while an Archimedes’ screw uses mechanical rotation to move water. The same screw principle can also be used today for solids and wastewater.