Water Escalator

By: Calvin D-N
Year: 2020
School: Lexington Jr. High, 8th grade
Division: Junior

The Archimedes Screw has been historically used to lift water from a low point up to a higher elevation, as well as other applications such as to propel dry bulk materials.In California, it seems like wildfires have become annual occurrences.

There have been hillside fires right next to the Pacific Ocean, so why not lift the ocean water up the hills to put out these fires using an Archimedes Screw?

For this project, the focus will be on lifting water and testing how varying heights will affect the efficiency of the Archimedes Screw, as the hills do have varying topography and heights. If the height (and subsequently the steepness) of the Archimedes Screw is altered, then the amount of water carried up and collected will also change.

This experiment proved that the Archimedes Screw does work to carry water up for various heights. But if the height is too high and the angle is too steep, the Archimedes Screw becomes less efficient. Therefore, in real life scenarios it may require serious algorithms and logistics to design an optimal Archimedes Screw that is transportable and adjustable to help fight California hillside fires.