  Molecular Dynamics simulations of water molecules in nanometre sized
cylindrical channels connecting two reservoirs show that the permeation of
water is very sensitive to the channel radius and to electric polarization of
the embedding material. At threshold, the permeation is {\emph{intermittent}}
on a nanosecond timescale, and strongly enhanced by the presence of an ion
inside the channel, providing a possible mechanism for gating. Confined water
remains surprisingly fluid and bulk-like. Its behaviour differs strikingly from
that of a reference Lennard-Jones fluid, which tends to contract into a highly
layered structure inside the channel.
