With the increasing demand for an environmentally-friendly fluid medium in the fluid-power industries, recent advances in water hydraulics technology have sparked renewed interest in the application of water, instead of oil, as the energy-transmission medium. This paper introduces the history of water hydraulics and its present research. The advantages and disadvantages of water as an energy-transmission medium are discussed. A water-hydraulic system in Nanyang Technological University is introduced. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.