Archimedes' screw Archimedes' screw An Archimedes' screw, also known by the name the Archimedean screw or screw pump, is a machine used for transferring water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation ditches. Water is pumped by turning a screw-shaped surface inside a pipe. The screw pump is commonly attributed to Archimedes, on the occasion of his visit to Egypt. This tradition may reflect only that the apparatus was unknown to the Greeks before Hellenistic times and was introduced in Archimedes's lifetime by unknown engineers. Depictions of Greek and Roman water screws show them being powered by a human treading on
Screw pump Screw pump A screw pump is a positive-displacement (PD) pump that use one or several screws to move fluids or solids along the screw(s) axis. In its simplest form (the Archimedes' screw pump), a single screw rotates in a cylindrical cavity, thereby moving the material along the screw's spindle. This ancient construction is still used in many low-tech applications, such as irrigation systems and in agricultural machinery for transporting grain and other solids. Development of the screw pump has led to a variety of multiple-axis technologies where carefully crafted screws rotate in opposite directions or remains stationary within a cavity.