Indeed. Fascinating puzzle. Without an external source of energy there must be a volume of water leaving the system that doesn't make it to the higher level. If

Indeed. Fascinating puzzle. Without an external source of energy there must be a volume of water leaving the system that doesn't make it to the higher level. If it was possible to partition the water and the energy but not with the same partition (ie, 40% of the water gets 80% of the energy, 60% of the water the other 20%) then the system would be thermodynamically legal. So maybe the vortex was to create a high- and low- pressure mass of water. This mechanism is ingenious in the best meaning of the word.