Water transport occurs in all biological membranes. A few selected membranes in the kidney, amphibian urinary bladder, and erythrocyte have very high water permeability and are thought to contain specialized water transporting units termed "water channels." The known biophysical properties of membranes containing water channels are a high osmotic water permeability coefficient (Pf), an osmotic-to-diffusional water permeability coefficient ratio (Pf/Pd) greater than unity, a low activation energy (Ea), and inhibition by mercurial compounds. The biochemical and molecular characteristics of water channel pathways are not known at present. Established and new methods to measure Pf and Pd in kidney tubules and in isolated membrane vesicles from kidney cells are reviewed and evaluated. In the mammalian proximal tubule, a high Pf results from transcellular movement of water across highly permeable apical and basolateral membranes containing water channels. It has been assumed that proximal tubule Pf is unregulated; however, recent results indicate that apical water channels are retrieved by endocytosis and that Pf is decreased fivefold with increasing transepithelial osmotic gradients. In the thin and thick ascending limbs, Pf is nearly the lowest of all biological membranes and is not subject to regulation. In contrast, collecting tubule Pf is subject to hormonal regulation by vasopressin. Vasopressin binding to receptors located at the basal membrane of principal cells initiates adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate production, which is thought ultimately to activate the exocytic insertion of intracellular vesicles containing water channels into the cell apical membrane. Vasopressin-induced endosomes from kidney collecting tubule and toad urinary bladder contain functional water channels but no proton pumps or urea transporters, supporting a membrane shuttle hypothesis that is selective for water channels. Future directions for the isolation and molecular cloning of kidney water channels are evaluated.