Environmental Impact

The screw has provided creatively solutions on its ability to transport water smoothly without creating much disturbance to the destination of the flowing water. Over the years, new innovations to the Archimedes Screw have been made to adapt to meet demands required of ecosystems and clean energy, beyond the traditional use of water irrigation for Agriculture.

Ecosystems

​

The Archimedes Screw is commonly identified as the biggest screw in the world, and is also known as the screwpump. Its initial design is attributed to Archimedes and was used to transfer large volumes water from a lower to higher grounds. The purpose was to facilitate draining of water, or supplement irrigation processes The Archimedes Screw works well in sewage systems because the flow rate can be monitored by the speed of rotation of the screw. Also, the Archimedes Screw can sieve off floating solids in water. Increasingly, the Archimedes screw is used to sustaining ecosystems (it has fish friendly property), vehicular modifications and even regulating geographical weather patters through water displacements.

Clean Energy

​

If water is poured from the top of the Archimedes Screw, it will force a rotation action of the screw. For Archimedes Screws that serve this purpose, they are referred to as Reverse Archimedes Screws. This rotating force of the Reverse Archimedes Screw generates electricity. With this concept, micro hydroelectric schemes such as Settle Hydro and Torrs Hydro are made possible in places such as England, where the gravitational effect of water flow is sufficient to power a housing unit of small­scale business facility.

Spiral Pump

​

Invented in 1746 by H.A. Wirtz,The spiral pump is an adaptation of the Archimedes Screw. Unlike the Archimedes screw, it’s design allows it to be tilted at an angle. The fact that the volume of material required for building it much less, and can be built by lightweight and inexpensive modern materials, repair and replacement costs are thus significantly lower. Its low torque requirements also means that it does not need much energy for it to run, and can be hand­turned.