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How does the Archimedes screw raise water?

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Portrait of Archimedes by Giuseppe Nogari shows an elderly man with white hair and beard, holding a compass, gazing downward, set against a dark background. — Archimedes Archimedes, oil on canvas by Giuseppe Nogari, 18th century; in the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Moscow. Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician and inventor.

The Archimedes screw is a device designed to raise water, traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes.

The mechanism typically consists of a circular pipe that encloses a helix, or a helical tube wound around a central shaft. To operate the device, it is inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the horizontal, with its lower end submerged in the water source. As the device rotates, the water is captured within the helical chambers and is progressively lifted through the pipe until it reaches the desired height at the upper end.12

Beyond its historical use for clearing water from ship holds, variations of this design—such as helices rotating within fixed cylinders or open inclined troughs—remain in use today for tasks like pumping sewage in wastewater treatment plants, as the design allows for the efficient movement of fluids and debris without clogging.1