Which device did Leonardo da Vinci design to raise water using a rotating screw?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a water-raising device based on the Archimedes’ screw.

An Archimedes’ screw consists of a helical surface inside or around a cylinder. When the screw rotates, pockets of water move upward along the spiral. Leonardo studied and drew screw pumps as part of his interest in hydraulics, canals, fountains, and water-powered machinery.

The device was not Leonardo’s original invention. It is traditionally associated with Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician and engineer, and screw-based water pumps existed long before the Renaissance. Leonardo’s contribution was his detailed investigation and adaptation of hydraulic mechanisms, not the invention of the basic principle.

This distinction is a common source of confusion in lists of Leonardo’s inventions. His notebooks record many designs that improve, combine, or reinterpret earlier technologies. The Archimedes’ screw remains useful today in irrigation, wastewater treatment, and industrial equipment.