Archimedes' screw screws of decreasing pitch are used for the compaction of waste material. If water is fed into the top of an Archimedes screw, it will force the screw to rotate. The rotating shaft can then be used to drive an electric generator. Such an installation has the same benefits as using the screw for pumping: the ability to handle very dirty water and widely varying rates of flow at high efficiency. Settle Hydro and Torrs Hydro are two reverse screw micro hydro schemes operating in England. The screw works well as a generator at low heads, commonly found in English
Tochmaland, Kollum containing an electrically driven Archimedes' screw was erected next to the mill. A proposal to demolish the mill was rejected by the mayor of the gemeente Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland. 0n 30 December 1948, the mill was purchased by the gemeente. Restorations were undertaken in 1949, 1963 and 1983. since 1995, an electric motor has been installed in "Tochmaland" to drive its Archimedes' screw, and the installation in the brick shed demolished. "Tochmaland" is what the Dutch describe as an "Grondzeiler". It is a two-storey smock mill on a single-storey base. There is no stage, the sails reaching down almost to