Which Leonardo da Vinci invention used a conical drum to lift water?

Leonardo da Vinci’s water-lifting concept used an Archimedes’ screw. The device consists of a helical blade or surface inside a tube or cylinder; when rotated, it carries water upward.

Leonardo studied and drew screw-based machines, including versions intended to move water. The underlying invention was not Leonardo’s original creation: the Archimedes’ screw is traditionally associated with the ancient Greek mathematician and engineer Archimedes. Leonardo adapted and explored the principle within his broader investigations of machines.

The device works because each turn traps a portion of water and raises it along the inclined spiral. Archimedes’ screws have been used for irrigation, drainage, and wastewater treatment. Calling Leonardo’s design an invention of the screw itself would be inaccurate; his contribution was studying and developing mechanical applications of established ideas.