The screw pump was later introduced from Egypt to Greece.
Some researchers think this device was used to irrigate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The reverse screw has the same benefits as using the screw for pumping: it can handle very dirty water and widely varying rates of flow, with high efficiency.
It is good for rivers with modest water drops ('low heads'). The turning drives an electric generator, which makes electricity. There is also a kind of reverse Archimedes' screw. The Archimedes screw is still much in use all over the world. It is not known for certain whether he did invent it, but it is always attributed to him. The screw is often used for filling irrigation ditches.Īrchimedes wrote about it when he was in Alexandria, Egypt. The screw can be turned by hand, or by a windmill, or by an engine. With the bottom end in water, the screw lifts water up to the top, where it pours out of a spout. It is a screw inside a fairly tight-fitting cylinder. It is a type of pump used for raising water up. Archimedes' screw was operated by hand and could raise water efficientlyĪrchimedes' screw is a machine.
