Which Leonardo da Vinci design used screw mechanisms to lift water between levels?

Leonardo da Vinci's water-lifting design used an Archimedes' screw.

Leonardo studied and drew screw-based machines for raising water, adapting the ancient Archimedes' screw principle. A helical surface inside a tube or trough carries water upward as the screw rotates. The mechanism is useful for irrigation, drainage, and moving water where a gradual lift is needed.

The underlying invention was not Leonardo's original creation. Archimedes' screw is traditionally associated with Archimedes of Syracuse, who lived in the third century BCE, although the exact early history of the device is debated. Leonardo's contribution was to study, illustrate, and develop mechanical applications of established principles.

This distinction matters because Leonardo is often credited too broadly with every machine he drew. His notebooks contain both original proposals and investigations of older technologies, including pumps, gears, mills, and hydraulic systems. The canonical name for the screw-based water lifter remains “Archimedes' screw.”