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[[Image:arch screw 2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An Egyptian farmer turning an Archimedes screw by hand to irrigate a field. [https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/Screw/Applications.html Photo:] Helen and Frank Schreider of the National Geographic staff.]]
The Archimedes Screw (named after a Greek mathematician) is though to have been around since 250 B.C.E. However, archaeological evidence has led others to posit its earlier invention in Assyria (modern day Iraq) or Egypt; Archimedes simply improved upon an earlier design.<ref> [http://www.archimedeshydroscrew.com/archimedes-screw-pump/ The basic principle of an Archimedes screw pump]. Archimedeshydroscrew.com</ref>
The Archimedes Screw is basically a large helix, open at both ends and encased within a watertight cylinder. It operates with the cylinder somewhat tilted from vertical. When the open lower end of the cylinder is placed in water and the screw is turned, water trapped between the cylinder and the threads of the screw rises. Successive revolutions will raise the water thread-by-thread until it emerges at the top of the cylinder.
The Archimedes Screw is still used today in some limited applications (usually electrically-powered), and can range in size from a quarter of an inch to nearly 4 meters (12 feet) in diameter. A large screw or banks of screws may be used to pump rainstorm runoff or to lift water or wastewater, for example.
Archimedes' screws, now called screw conveyors, are also used today primarily to propel dry bulk materials. However, if you do not have access to a generator pump and need a low-tech solution to raise water, it doesn't get much easier and low-tech than an Archimedes' screw. <ref> [httphttps://www.ehow.com/how_8725014_buildhow_5016689_build-handpoweredsimple-water-pump.html How to build and hand-powered water pump.] By Andrew Latham, eHow Contributor. </ref>
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