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Urbanisation and Water Consumption: Influencing Factors in the

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DOI: 10.1080/00420980600749969

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Urban Studies, Vol. 43, No. 9, 1605– 1623, August 2006

Urbanisation and Water Consumption: Influencing

Factors in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona

Elena Domene and David Saurı́

[Paper first received, April 2005; in final form, November 2005]

Summary. This paper is concerned with the relationships between urbanisation and residential
water consumption, taking as a case study the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona. More
precisely, it investigates the influence of certain demographic, behavioural and housing factors
on this consumption using descriptive statistics and a regression analysis. The data are derived
from a sample of 532 households in 22 municipalities of the study area. Results show that
income, housing type, members per household, the presence of outdoor uses (garden and
swimming pool), the kind of species planted in the garden and consumer behaviour towards
conservation practices play a significant role in explaining variations in water consumption. It is
concluded that, along with prices and incomes, further research is needed on other demographic
and housing variables in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the
determinants of domestic water consumption in areas periodically affected by water stress.

1. Introduction and Background

the past decade. In 2004, for instance, more
In southern Europe and Spain, in particular, new housing units (around 675 000) were
changes in the size and composition of built in Spain than in France, Italy and
families and in the social preferences for Germany combined (El Paı́s, 2005). Demo-
certain types of housing are, among other graphic and social trends, rising levels of
factors, stimulating the demand for new affluence and low interest rates have fuelled
homes in the suburbs of the main cities. Vari- this expansion which, on the other hand, has
ations in family structures are caused by produced spectacular increases in housing
demographic factors such as the ageing of prices and the need to capture new urban
the population and the decline in fertility land in the metropolitan peripheries.
rates after the populous generations of the The growth and diversification of the
1960s and early to mid 1970s, and by social housing stock has led to urban sprawl which
factors such as the rise of single-member is relatively new in Mediterranean cities.
families. Housing, on the other hand, is Consequently, concerns have been raised
growing and diversifying with a significant over the environmental impacts of low-
increase in single and condominium units. density urbanisation. These impacts, already
These factors contribute to explain the recognised in Anglo-Saxon countries,
booming Spanish real estate market during include growing energy consumption and
Elena Domene is in the Institut de Ciencia i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Edifici C Nord Campus,
UAB Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona 08193, Spain. Fax: þ34 93581 3331. E-mail: elena.domene@uab.es. David
Saurı́ is in the Institut de Ciencia i Tecnologia Ambientals and Departament de Geografia, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona,
08193 Bellaterra, Spain. Fax: þ34 93 581 2001. E-mail: david.sauri@uab.es. The authors would like to thank Roberto Martı́nez
Castiñeira, Vicent Alcàntara, Jordi Roca and Manoli Alcañiz for helpful comments on previous versions of the manuscript. They
also wish to express their gratitude to five anonymous referees and to the editors of the journal for their insightful comments and
criticisms. Any remaining errors are the authors’.
0042-0980 Print=1360-063X Online=06=091605 –19 # 2006 The Editors of Urban Studies
DOI: 10.1080=00420980600749969
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1606 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ
emissions (Kenworthy and Newman, 1989;
Anderson et al., 1996; Lavière and Lafrance,
1999; Crane, 1999); an increase in travel
distances (Southworth, 2001; Giuliano and
Narayan, 2003; Cameron et al., 2004); and
the loss of agricultural land, open spaces and
environmentally valuable areas (Heimlich,
1989; Brabec and Smith, 2002). However, in
a Mediterranean context, other impacts are
worth studying, especially the rising water
consumption observed in the suburbs as com-
pared with the denser city cores. This is
important given the situation of potential
water crises affecting many southern
European metropolitan areas (Del Moral and
Giansante, 2000; Kallis and Coccossis, 2003).
In Catalonia, for instance, an emergency
alert for water was issued in the summer of
2005 (see below).
One question that appears fundamental in
this context of urban change and mounting
water demand concerns the role of different
factors governing residential water consump-
tion. Water prices, household incomes and
metering have been widely investigated as
important variables in this respect. Other
factors, however, remain less studied.
Among the latter, we can mention household
members, housing type and size, consumer
behaviour with regard to water (especially
attitudes towards conservation), household
water-saving technologies and climate
(Nauges and Thomas, 2000).
In this paper, we want to examine the influ-
ence of three of these factors in residential
water consumption: housing type, household
size and consumer behaviour. Our objective is
to ascertain whether a significant amount of
the variation found regarding domestic water
consumption can be attributed to the housing
type (single houses; apartment blocks with
shared garden and swimming pool; and
apartment blocks without those amenities), to
household size and to consumer behaviour
influenced by conservation attitudes.
The paper is organised as follows. First,
we offer a brief literature review on the
factors that may influence residential water
consumption. Secondly, we introduce the
Metropolitan Region of Barcelona as a case
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study and review the recent process of urban
growth in this area, especially the trends
towards urban sprawl and the reduction in
household size. Thirdly, we present the
results of a survey of 532 households under-
taken in the study area with the objective of
obtaining information on habits of water use,
water consumption and a host of relevant
household characteristics such as size,
income, outdoor water uses and attitudes to
water conservation. In this part of the paper,
we attempt to correlate possible influences
on water consumption using a linear
regression with a set of independent variables:
housing type, household members and atti-
tudes towards conservation, the latter
derived from certain consumer habits. Fourth
and finally, we discuss the results obtained
in the context of water planning and manage-
ment in this area, especially the use of water
demand management measures.
2. Factors Influencing Residential Water
Consumption: A Brief Review
Income, metering and, above all, water prices
and taxes have been widely used in various
contexts and under different conditions to
study the determinants of residential water
consumption. Most studies in this respect
have focused on price elasticities using
regression methods, including both linear
and quadratic (log linear) models. Also, differ-
ent specifications of the water price variable
and different types of dataset have been used
to understand the key determinants of con-
sumption. However, few studies have used
disaggregated data at the household level
(more appropriate when considering indiv-
idual behaviour) and, furthermore, factors
other than prices and incomes remain insuffi-
ciently examined.
According to some authors (see, for
example, USEPA, 2002; Arbués et al., 2003),
water consumption tends to be inelastic in
relation to water prices. Most authors,
however, insist on the effects of prices on con-
sumption (Baumann et al., 1998; Dandy et al.,
1997; Taylor et al., 2004), especially when
block-rate pricing is present (Hewitt and
 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
Hanemann, 1995; Dalhuisen et al., 2003).
Another perspective considers a threshold of
water that is insensitive to price and a quantity
that can adapt instantaneously to price changes
(Martinez-Espiñeira and Nauges, 2004). This
threshold would cover water consumed for
the satisfaction of basic needs (drinking and
food preparation), as well as water used in con-
junction with domestic appliances for personal
hygiene. Also, price responsiveness is found to
vary by income-group, with lower-income
households being more price-responsive
(Renwick and Archibald, 1998). Outdoor
uses are found to be more sensitive to prices
(Howe and Linaweaver, 1967; Renwick and
Green, 2000) and winter demands less sensi-
tive to price changes (Howe, 1982; Dandy
et al., 1997). Although difficult to separate
from other factors such as price, metering
usually produces savings of 10 –25 per cent
due to information, publicity and leakage
repairs (EEA, 2001).
Income correlates positively with residen-
tial water consumption, although not in
clear ways (Baumann et al., 1998; Kallis,
1999; Dalhuisen et al., 2003). In households
where water bills constitute a very small
proportion of the disposable income, the
latter does not seem to be a determining
factor in explaining water use (Martinez-
Espiñeira and Nauges, 2004). Moreover,
while indoor water consumption remains
relatively stable for different income cat-
egories (Loh and Coghlan, 2003), larger vari-
ations appear when outdoor uses are present
(Syme et al., 2004).
Besides prices, some prior research within
the water conservation perspective (Dziegie-
lewski et al., 1993; Baumann, 1998; Zhang
and Brown, 2004) considers housing type to
be a major explanatory factor of domestic
water consumption. Thus, single houses with
substantial outdoor uses are major water
consumers and it has been noted that their
consumption has a positive correlation with
garden size (Linaweaver et al., 1967;
Renwick and Green, 2000; Mukhopadhyay
et al., 2001; Syme et al., 2004). The type of
landscaping also has a substantial effect—for
example, turf grass versus native species of
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1607
shrubs and trees in a Mediterranean climate
(Domene et al., 2005).
Regardless of housing type, indoor water
consumption has been found to be relatively
stable across seasonal variations and different
socioeconomic groups. The variations in
internal water consumption often depend on
household size and appliance ownership
(Loh and Coghlan, 2003). Hence, household
size can be also an important factor in deter-
mining consumption since, often, some econ-
omies of size cannot be accomplished in
smaller households (for instance, full loads
in washing machines). Therefore, for an
equal population, more water per capita will
be consumed in smaller than in larger
households.
Finally, consumer behaviour including atti-
tudes and habits towards conservation may
also constitute a significant element in residen-
tial water consumption. Studies show that
domestic water-saving devices (for example
the adoption of low-flow toilets, showerheads
and faucets) and certain garden irrigation
technologies reduce water consumption sig-
nificantly (Renwick and Archibald, 1998;
Chesnutt et al., 1992). However, water use
appears to be more related to sociodemo-
graphic variables (household size and
income) that influence specific behaviours,
than to attitudinal variables (Gatersleben
et al., 2002). Although households may be con-
serving water for other reasons (high prices,
for instance), a certain level of environmental
awareness is likely to appear in conservation
attitudes and practices as well.
In sum, the consideration of these three
variables (housing type, household members
and conservation attitudes) has only been
examined partially and, along with more
economic instruments, may offer new insights
when studying the underlying causes of
domestic water consumption.
3. Urbanisation in the Metropolitan Region
of Barcelona
The Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (MRB)
is formed by 163 municipalities and a total
population of 4.4 million in 2001. Functionally,
1608 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ

the MRB can be divided into a metropolitan
core (the city of Barcelona), a denser first per-
iphery (including various sub-centres) and a
more diffuse second periphery (Figure 1).
In recent decades, and as in many other
Mediterranean cities, important economic,
social and territorial changes have occurred
within the MRB. These changes have stimu-
lated (and have been stimulated by) the
dynamics of deconcentration of population,
jobs and economic activity in general. Resi-
dential mobility, in particular, has been
intense with people moving from the denser
metropolitan core and partially from the first
periphery to the second periphery (Figure 2).
Many factors may have contributed to this
process, including comparatively cheaper
housing in the second periphery, changing
perceptions of quality of life (the ‘closer to
nature’ suburbs are socially preferred to the
denser core), improvements in communi-
cation networks (especially for private trans-
port), the constitution of new labour markets
in the periphery and the strong tertiarisation
of the central areas (Fielding, 1982; Castells,
1990; Nel.lo, 2002; Durà-Guimerà, 2003).
Because of these processes, the traditionally
compact Mediterranean city is now becoming
a diffuse urban area, with a growing predomi-
nance of low-density housing. Urban land, for
example, has increased from some 20 000
hectares in 1972 to more than 45 000 hectares
in 1992 (Serratosa, 1994) and more than
50 000 hectares in 2000. Without significant
population increases for the whole of the
MRB (at least since the beginning of
the 1980s), most of this new urban land has
been used to accommodate internal migratory
shifts. Another important feature of this
urbanisation process is the increasing number
of detached and semi-detached houses being
built in the periphery. During the period
1985– 2000, detached and semi-detached
(condominium) units represented 35 per cent
of the total housing stock built in the MRB
(INE, 2001) and, for certain small and
medium municipalities of the second
periphery, it reached almost 70 per cent
(Muñoz, 2003).
One attractive aspect of detached housing is
the possibility of having a garden. Gardens are
linked with the ideas of stress avoidance,

Figure 1. The metropolitan region of Barcelona.

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 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
Figure 2. Population trends in the MRB, 1975 –2001.
recreation, social positionality and personal
identity, but preferences in garden compo-
sition are changing rapidly in our study area.
Gardens in the Mediterranean countries have
traditionally been characterised by a rich
variety in the number of species (shrubs and
trees, in particular), flavours and colours.
However, a new type of garden with large
areas of turf grass not adapted environmen-
tally to the Mediterranean context is growing
in popularity. In fact, lavish green turf grass
gardens can be considered a positional good
(Hirsch, 1976) for some people who strive
for status and social distinction.
Sociodemographic changes have also a role
to play in the deconcentration and suburbani-
sation processes commented on above. First,
the number of households between 1991 and
2001 in the MRB grew by over 245 000
units (an 18 per cent increase). Depending
on the proximity to the metropolitan core,
different household structures are found.
Smaller households, with one or two
members, are more frequent in the metropoli-
tan centres, while larger households become
more common in suburban locations. This
spatial segregation pattern of different
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1609
household sizes and family structures,
already dominant in large European metropo-
litan regions, is consolidating in the Metro-
politan Region of Barcelona (Pujades and
López, 2004). Some causes of this process
lie possibly in the so-called second demo-
graphic transition (van de Kaa, 1987).
In the MRB, the overall decrease in house-
hold size can be observed in Table 1. This
trend is common to all the territorial units
presented and may be related to important
declines in fertility levels and to the fact that
the crowded generations of the 1960s and
the early –mid 1970s are reaching emancipa-
tory ages and forming new households. The
comparison between the population censuses
of 1991 and 2001 shows, for instance, that
more than 25 per cent of the households in
the city of Barcelona were single households
in 2001 (and more than 50 per cent had two
persons or less). From the same table, we
can also notice the sharp decrease in house-
holds with four or more members and the
increase in households of two and three
members in the second periphery. The latter
illustrates clearly the migration of young
couples with children to the suburbs.
1610 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ

Table 1. Number of members per household in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona, 1991 and 2001
Household size (percentages)
Average
number of
Year 1 2 3 4
5 persons per household
Barcelona 1991 18.1 27.8 22.0 20.3 11.8 2.85
2001 26.2 29.9 21.2 16.3 6.6 2.50
First periphery 1991 10.3 22.8 22.9 27.0 17.0 2.32
2001 17.5 28.2 24.5 21.9 8.5 2.78
Rest of first periphery 1991 8.8 21.5 22.4 28.2 19.2 3.37
2001 15.4 27.1 24.5 23.5 9.5 2.76
Second periphery 1991 10.6 23.9 22.5 25.6 17.5 3.25
2001 17.2 27.8 23.5 22.2 9.3 2.67
Total MRB 1991 13.5 25.1 22.4 23.9 15.3 3.06
2001 20.3 28.6 22.9 20.1 8.2 2.63

4. The Water Issue in the Metropolitan
Region of Barcelona
The MRB is supplied by water from reservoirs
in the River Llobregat; by a transfer from the
River Ter (100 km to the north) and by local
aquifers. New supplies from these conven-
tional sources seem unlikely since no new
reservoirs appear to be environmentally and
socially feasible in both river systems and,
in 2004, the Spanish national government
withdrew a proposal for transferring water
from the River Ebro (and stated its opposition
to another projected transfer from the River
Rhone in France). Moreover, many local
groundwater resources are becoming too pol-
luted to provide water to the municipalities
depending on them (Saurı́, 2003). Given this
situation of limited supply, the regional
government of Catalonia together with the
Spanish national government, favour the con-
struction of desalinisation plants and, above
all, the stimulation of demand management
measures—especially raising prices and
taxes for water.
In 2001, residential demand represented 67
per cent of the total water demand in the
MRB, followed by industrial (23 per cent)
and agricultural (10 per cent). Compared
with Spain as a whole, where 77 per cent
of water is consumed by agriculture (INE,
2001), residential uses dominate in the
Barcelona region, as in most urban areas of
developed countries. Threats of water scarcity
have become more pronounced since 1990.
The regional government of Catalonia (in
charge of water planning and the management
of this area) issued four drought alerts (with
restrictions for some water uses) between
1990 and 2002. In the summer of 2005 and
after the worst drought since 1947, a state of
emergency was declared with restrictions for
agricultural and municipal uses. If rains did
not arrive before October, restrictions (either
lowering water pressure or limiting the pro-
vision of water during certain hours during
the day) would begin to be implemented in
the residential areas of the region where
already near 100 000 people had to be
supplied partially with mobile water tanks.
Previous studies in the Metropolitan Region
of Barcelona show how different variables
such as income, water prices and housing
types are affecting water consumption at the
municipal level. Metering is widespread in
the area; therefore it is not possible to use
this variable in the analysis. As to income,
Tello (2001) reveals that municipalities in
the region with higher incomes also register
higher water consumption. Rivera et al.
(2001) also observed positive correlations
between average municipal incomes and resi-
dential water consumption, although with a
lower coefficient than urban density or
number of stories per building. Consumption

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 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
varies on average from 131 litres/person/day
(lpd) in the denser metropolitan core to
178 lpd in the more diffuse periphery and con-
sumption by some municipalities in the
suburbs may be four times higher than con-
sumption in the core (Saurı́, 2003). To a
large extent, garden irrigation is responsible
for these differences. On average, the water
consumed annually by the garden reaches 30
per cent of the total water consumed in
the household and can attain 50 per cent
during the summer season (Domene et al.
2005).
Water prices are very heterogeneous in the
MRB. The more common residential water
billing model in the MRB consists of a fixed
component or service fee (which may range
from 2 –7 euros per month) and several
increasing block rates. Every municipality in
the MRB negotiates with the water company
(which may be public or private) the service
fee, the block structure if this is used (2– 4
block rates, depending on the municipality)
and the threshold quantity and price of each
block. Therefore, the variety of water prices
in the MRB may be quite high. To give just
one example, the company supplying the
city of Barcelona uses a service fee and up
to 3 blocks, the last of which is set at 36
cubic metres per 3 months, while another
municipality, Sitges, also uses a service fee
and 2 tariff blocks, the last of which is set at
90 cubic metres per 3 months. In 2003, the
price for the last block in Barcelona was
1.065 euros per cubic metre, while in Sitges,
the price for the last block was 0.806 euros
per cubic metre.
Contrary to water prices, water taxes (the
so-called Cànon de l’Aigua) are the same for
all the municipalities in the MRB and also
follow a block system. In 2003, they included
2 blocks with a threshold established at 12
cubic metres per month.
In sum, the water billing system in the
MRB can be modelled as follows
Block pricing
BP ¼ MPB0  q
BP ¼ MPB0  qB0 þ MPB1  (q  qB0 )
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1611
where, 0 , q , qB0 and qB0 , q , qB1 and
where q is the quantity consumed by the cus-
tomer; MPBn is the marginal price of each
block; and, qBn is the threshold quantity
between the n 2 1 and n blocks.
Taxes
CP ¼ MPC0  q
CP ¼ MPC0  qC þ MPC1  (q  qC )
where, 0 , q , qC and qC , q and where q is
the quantity consumed by the customer,
MPCn is the marginal price of each taxation
block; and, qC is the threshold quantity
between the two existing blocks, that is, 12
cubic metres/month.
Therefore, the total cost of water is
TPi ¼ FCi þ BPi þ CP
where, FCi is the fixed component applied by
the municipality.
Finally, consumer behaviour related to
water savings has been examined during
periods of drought, mostly to gain knowledge
about the efficacy of public campaigns aimed
at conserving water. When drought alerts are
issued, some uses (above all, water for agri-
cultural irrigation and water for public pur-
poses such as street cleaning) are restricted
since the Spanish water law of 1985 estab-
lishes that residential uses must be the last
to be curtailed. The overall results of these
conservation campaigns (only informative
and never mandatory) have been positive,
mostly for indoor uses. Thus strongest
savings have been recorded in dense munici-
palities where consumption was already
quite low. However, water consumption
appears to have increased in municipalities
with a predominance of gardens. Therefore,
conservation practices in water seem to be
more effective in the denser metropolitan
core than in the periphery.
This review of water and urbanisation in the
MRB does not add much to the study of
specific causes or factors that govern residen-
tial water consumption. Prices have a role to
play in this consumption but other factors
may also be important. More detailed analysis
at the household level would probably shed
1612 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ
more light on these causes, especially the
influences of housing types, the number of
members per household and patterns of
consumer behaviour with regard to water
conservation.
5. Materials and Methods
In order to investigate the factors influencing
residential water consumption, we used disag-
gregated data at the household level. We
selected a sample of 532 households located
in 22 municipalities of the Metropolitan
Region of Barcelona. Each household was
asked to respond to a telephone questionnaire
of 42 questions that took place between
January and March 2004. The selection of
households followed a stratified sampling
method based on the population of the munici-
palities as well as the predominant housing
type. Three housing types were selected:
high-density housing (that is, apartments in
multistorey buildings); mid-density housing
(apartment blocks with shared garden and
swimming pool); and, low-density housing
(condominiums and detached houses). High-
density housing represents around 60 per
cent of the total housing stock of the region.
Detached and semi-detached housing consti-
tutes about 30 per cent while the rest corres-
pond to apartment blocks with community
garden and swimming pool. The latter type,
however, has seen the largest increase in
recent years (INE, 2001).
Interviews in the high-density group were
obtained mainly in the city of Barcelona and
in other municipalities greater than 50 000
inhabitants, all of them dense urban areas
dominated by apartment blocks. The sample
of low-density housing was extracted from
municipalities with more than 70 per cent of
detached and semi-detached homes. Inter-
views in apartment blocks with shared
garden and swimming pool were made using
a random sample of municipalities where the
proportion of this housing type had experi-
enced an important growth in the recent past
(Muñoz, 2003).
The questionnaire was designed to obtain
information about the distribution of domestic
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water use—both indoor and, where appropri-
ate, outdoor uses. Indoor uses included water
used for personal and domestic hygiene
(drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes
and similar purposes). Outdoor uses included
water for gardens and swimming pools. Indi-
vidual households were asked to provide
information on the following five aspects:
household socioeconomic data; household
characteristics; household water use (indoor
and outdoor); household water fixtures; and,
total water consumption as registered in their
water bills.
The information referring to total water
consumption by the household was obtained
from the interviewed through their water
bills of 2003. The calculation of per capita
domestic consumption was obtained by divid-
ing the total annual consumption (in cubic
metres/year) by the number of members in
the household.
Data such as indoor water fittings (taps,
showers, toilets and baths), presence of
garden and swimming pool, garden dimensions
and plant species were requested from the
interviewed. Water used to irrigate gardens
was calculated using a simplified version of
the so-called Costello method (Costello et al.,
1991) based on the evapotranspiration of
plants. We assumed that gardens were
watered according to their agronomical needs.
The income of the family unit was also
obtained from the interviewed. The average
water price for 2003 (including the service
fee, the cost of the water consumed and
taxes) was obtained from the Catalan Water
Agency for four consumption levels (6, 10,
12 and 20 cubic metres/month). In order to
obtain the average price for the consumption
in each particular case, an extrapolation
from the four levels of consumption was
applied. The share of water expenditure
(including taxes) in total income was also
computed from the data.
In order to take into account the influence
that consumer behaviour might have in
water consumption, a consumer behaviour
index was constructed from water use patterns
within individual homes. We determined six
water conservation practices: the installation
 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
of water-saving devices in taps, toilets and
showers (each one of them counted individu-
ally); turning off running water while brushing
the teeth, the purchase of water-efficient appli-
ances and the consultation and comparison of
water consumption between periods.
Two values (zero or 1) have been given to
each practice (‘zero’ meaning that the con-
sumer did not adopt the practice and ‘1’
meaning that the consumer did adopt the prac-
tice). Thus, the consumer behaviour index
represents the sum of the values correspond-
ing to each practice. Furthermore, it was
assumed that every practice contributed
equally to the index. Thus, this index must
not be considered as an accurate weighting
of each practice, but as an indication of how
consumers behave regarding water uses. The
possible explanatory power of this general
index will be higher than that of each practice
studied independently as dummy variables.
For example, the practice of saving water
when brushing the teeth is more readily seen
if considered together with the other conserva-
tion practices than if considered alone.
The statistical treatment of the data
obtained involved two steps. First, we pro-
duced some descriptive analysis. Secondly, a
multivariate analysis was carried out with
the main significant variables obtained
through the interviews by using a linear
regression model (see next section).
6. Results and Discussion
6.1 Descriptive analysis
In this section, we will analyse first beha-
vioural patterns with regard to water use
Table 2. Frequency of indoor water uses for personal hygiene and cleaning tasks
(per person)
Task
Washing hands
Brushing teeth
Flushing the toilet
Showers
Using the dishwasher
Using the washing machine
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1613
and, secondly, water consumption in
relation to household and socioeconomic
characteristics.
Behavioural patterns in indoor water
use. Our objective in this case was to find
possible heterogeneities across housing types
and different income-groups regarding
certain habits in water use. Hence, we
provide information about water habits and
frequencies of water use in relation to per-
sonal hygiene as well as to household cleaning
tasks. Results do not show statistically signifi-
cant differences across housing types. Income
seems to have a major effect on the frequency
of indoor water uses, but only in the case of
showers. Since no significant differences were
found, the mean and standard deviation of the
frequency of indoor water uses are presented
only for the whole sample (see Table 2).
As mentioned, the frequency of showering,
one of the largest indoor uses, presents some
differences across income-groups. Low-
income groups usually shower less per week
than high-income groups (around two
showers less per week). Others aspects such
as age, the gender of the respondents and the
time spent at home appear also to be relevant,
especially for the frequency of uses for per-
sonal hygiene. Hence, older people tended to
be more frugal in relation to water, women
tended to use more water for personal
hygiene and people staying at home (usually
women or retired men) used more water in
uses such as washing the hands or flushing
the toilet. Showering was the use with the
smallest variation in all these variables and
most respondents answered that they took a
Frequency Mean (standard deviation)
Per day 4.68 (2.43)
Per day 2.21 (0.85)
Per day 4.57 (2.10)
Per week 5.91 (1.74)
Per week 1.45 (0.78)
Per week 1.56 (0.82)
1614 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ

shower almost every day. Also interesting to
note with regard to the public campaigns for
water conservation is that, in our study area,
showers were almost always preferred to
baths. In 90 per cent of cases, people spent
less than 10 minutes in the shower and about
a third spent less than 5 minutes. Furthermore,
58 per cent of the interviewed said that they
always (or most of the time) interrupted the
flow of running water while soaping. This
contrasts with the much larger proportion of
respondents (93 per cent) affirming that they
turned the tap off while brushing their teeth.
With regard to technical solutions to water
conservation, 11 per cent of the interviewed
had installed water-saving devices in all
household faucets (20 per cent in all showers
and 33 per cent in all flushing toilets). Forty-
six per cent of households that had purchased
a washing machine in the past 4 years (21
per cent of the total sample) selected a water-
efficient model. Finally, 55 per cent of the
interviewed studied the water bill and com-
pared water consumption between periods.
Water consumption, household and
socioeconomic characteristics. Results are
presented for the three housing types selected.
Table 3 shows the mean and the standard devi-
ation of the data obtained. Results show that
high-density housing observes the lowest per
household and per capita water consumption
with an annual average of 120.1 (47.80)
litres/person/day (lpd), followed by the
mid-density housing (156.7 (65.73) lpd)) and
by condominiums and detached houses
(203.3 (116.4) lpd).
The large variability in the registered dom-
estic water consumption, especially in the
low-density housing type, is related to house

Table 3. Descriptive statistics across housing types: means and (standard deviations)
High-density Mid-density Low-density
housing housing housing
Water per household, annual average (cubic 112.6 (58.73) 172.4 (74.3)a 226.3 (120.4)
metres/household/year)
Water per household, summer (cubic 27.7 (15.6) 40.5 (16.4)a 70.3 (45.2)
metres/household/quarter)
Water per household, winter (cubic metres/ 28.6 (15.7) 40.2 (18.8)a 45.4 (25.5)
household/quarter)
Water per capita (annual average (litres/ 120.1 (47.80) 156.7 (65.4)a 203.3 (116.4)
persons  day)
Water per capita, summer (litres/ 117.6 (54.59) 158.7 (69.2)a 254.2 (182.5)
persons  day)
Water per capita, winter (litres/ 121.3 (53.10) 144.5 (66.4)a 161.6 (98.2)
persons  day)
Household size (persons) 2.7 (1.2) 3.2 (1.2) 3.3 (1.3)
House area (square metres) 85.6 (30.5) 109.6 (32.1) 173.0 (67.3)
Indoor water fittings (number) 8.7 (2.9) 10.9 (2.2) 13.6 (3.9)
Garden necessities annual average — 1.199 (0.384) 1.014 (0.426)
(l/square metres  day)
Garden size (square metres) — 29.6 (34.81)b 195.7 (228.6)
Presence of swimming pool 0 80 21
(percentage)
Income, net (E/month  family unit) 2038 (1222) 3035 (1381) 2535 (1170)
Average water price (E/cubic metres) 1.187 (0.164) 1.029 (0.168) 1.085 (0.248)
Water expenditure (fraction of 0.64 (0.44) 0.55 (0.42) 0.87 (0.48)
total income)
Consumer behaviour index (0 –6) 1.97 (1.29) 2.06 (1.21) 2.10 (1.23)
a
Water consumed by communal garden and swimming pool is included. bCalculated by dividing the garden size by the
number of households per building.

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 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
characteristics such as house size, number of
water fixtures, garden size and garden water
needs (see Table 3). High-density households
correspond therefore to apartments with fewer
indoor water fixtures and with fewer members
per household. Mid-density housing is rep-
resented by larger apartments with more
water fixtures and more persons per house-
hold. Lastly, single-family housing forms the
group with a higher size and number of
water fixtures, and also a higher number of
members per household.
With regard to outdoor uses, these are not
present in high-density housing—hence the
relatively low water consumption of this
category. All mid-density residences of the
sample have a community garden which
varies from 100 square metres to more than
500 square metres and with turf grass as the
main species planted. In the single-family
housing category, 92 per cent have a private
garden. Most of these gardens (82.6 per
cent) occupy less than 100 square metres
and half of them have different vegetation
than turf grass; 22 per cent have less than
half the garden area occupied by turf grass
and the rest have more than half occupied
by this species. Detached houses with
Figure 3. Distribution of water uses across housing types.
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1615
gardens under 20 square metres, abundant in
our sample, have per capita consumptions
similar to those of high-density housing.
However, detached houses with gardens over
200 square metres with a considerable
amount of turf grass may attain a consumption
of up to 500 lpd. Therefore, housing type, and
especially garden size and species planted, are
major factors influencing water consumption.
The distribution of indoor and outdoor uses
also shows significant differences between the
three housing types (Figure 3). For example,
in high-density housing, water used for per-
sonal hygiene (shower, bath and toilet) rep-
resents on average 72 per cent of the total
water used. This figure is slightly smaller
(71 per cent) in the mid-density housing
since in this case some water is used to irrigate
the shared garden. In the low-density housing
group, water used for irrigating the garden
attains on average 36 per cent of total house-
hold consumption, although it is also more
important than indoor use as a source of
variability.
Significant differences are also found
between seasons, especially in single-family
housing. Average water consumption in the
high- and mid-density housing types remains
1616 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ
relatively stable across seasons. Conversely, in
low-density housing, water consumption
during winter is around 162 lpd, and increases
to some 254 lpd during the summer season.
During these months, water used for the
garden represents on average around 45 per
cent of the total consumption of the household.
Household size exerts an important effect
on per capita domestic water consumption.
As already mentioned, some water uses are
constant and independent of the number of
persons per household, such as water for gar-
dening or for filling the swimming pool. With
other uses, such as laundry or dishwashing, it
becomes more difficult to adjust water con-
sumption when the number of users is small.
For this reason, in households with few
people, per capita consumption may be
higher than in households with large families.
In our case study, this occurred not only for
the total sample, but also when we analysed
each housing type separately as can be
observed in Figure 4.
Conservational practices in indoor uses
may also influence consumption. The analysis
of the consumer behaviour index shows that
the per capita domestic water consumption
decreases when the value of the index
increases. For example, people living in flats
without any conservation practices adopted
Figure 4. Average per capita water consumption across household sizes and housing type.
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consumed about 134 lpd. This figure
decreased to 103 lpd when the 6 conservation
practices were adopted. The same tendency
was observed in the other housing types.
Regarding economic variables, income
may not be independent of housing type, and
it is higher in the mid and the high housing.
Average water price is similar across
housing types; it is higher in the first periphery
where the high-density housing type is predo-
minant. We will analyse the effect of these
two variables in the next section. Finally, it
is worth pointing out that water expenditure
in the households of the Metropolitan
Region of Barcelona represents less than 1
per cent of the total income of the households.
6.2 Models
Next, we performed a multiple linear regression
analysis in order to find structural relationships
between the independent variables and the
dependent variable: daily average water con-
sumption per person (see Baumann et al.,
1998). Typically, residential demand is mod-
elled as a function of price, household income
and, less frequently, of other housing, climate
and social characteristics. The variables
included in the model were chosen according
to the results shown in the descriptive section
 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
and the indications provided in the literature,
especially price and income. The conceptual
model is as follows
W ¼ b0 þ b1 Y þ b2 P þ b3 HT þ b4 HS
þ b5 S þ b6 GS þ b7 GN þ b8 SP
þ b9 CBI þ e
where, W ¼ water consumed (litres/person/
day); Y ¼ income of the family unit (E/
month); P ¼ average water price (E/cubic
metre); HT ¼ housing type (dummy); HS ¼
number of members per household; S ¼ house
size (square metres); GS ¼ Garden size
(square metres); GN ¼ Garden necessities (l/
square metres  day); SP ¼ Possession of
swimming pool (dummy); CBI ¼ consumer
behaviour index (0–6); e ¼ error.
To avoid co-linearity, the variable ‘number
of indoor fittings was not included in the
model, due to its high correlation with house
size (S). Categorical variables such as
housing type and presence of swimming
pool were treated as fictitious variables
(dummies). The three categories of ‘housing
type’ were therefore given the following
values: 1 (high-density), 2 (mid-density), and
3 (low-density). High-density housing was
the category of reference.
In the model, we assume that consumers in
the MRB respond to average prices rather than
to marginal prices (Nieswiadomy, 1992). We
justify this assumption with the following
two reasons. First, almost half of the inter-
viewed do not look at the water bill or
compare it with previous bills. Secondly,
most consumers admit to not understanding
the billing model applied in their municipality
and therefore end up being indifferent to the
block tariff structure. This is not to suggest
that marginal prices would not produce sig-
nificant results but, given the highly hetero-
geneous block tariffs and thresholds for
quantities and prices of water in the MRB,
we have opted for average pricing, which we
think fits better in the model. Furthermore,
several researchers assume that the block-
rate pricing structure is unknown by the
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1617
general customer and that he or she is
unaware of the marginal price (Shin, 1985;
Opaluch, 1982; Billings and Agthe, 1980).
6.3 Estimates
The model has been estimated for the whole
sample and for every house type separately.
We have obtained satisfactory results for the
whole sample and for the low-density
housing type. Therefore only these will be
presented. Moreover and in order to analyse
seasonal differences, the demand model has
been estimated separately for the summer
and winter seasons as well as for the average
annual data. The dependent variable is per
annual average per capita water consump-
tion (lpd) for each period. The estimates are
presented in Tables 4 and 5. In all the
estimates, coefficients of determination,
statistically significant in all cases, are
modest but reasonable for studies of this
nature.
Estimates for the whole sample. Results for
the average annual data show that the vari-
ables selected explain 36.7 per cent of the var-
iance. The significant explanatory variables
are housing type, garden necessities, house-
hold size, presence of swimming pool,
income and consumer behaviour towards
water conservation practices.
In more detail, results reveal that the dom-
estic water consumption is statistically differ-
ent between high- and low-density housing
(because of the presence of private outdoor
uses), but it is not between low- and mid-
density housing. This can be explained
because the water consumed by the communal
outdoor uses is not as important as in the
private ones. Coefficients also show that
keeping the other independent variables con-
stant, water consumption would increase
around an average of 36 lpd by the fact of
living in a single-family house instead of
living in a multistorey building. With the
presence of a swimming pool, it would
be expected to attain 37.88 lpd more. Also
associated with housing type, the veg-
etation composition of private gardens in
1618 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ

Table 4. Water demand estimates using per capita water consumption by seasons for the whole sample
(t-statistics in parentheses)
Annual average Summer Winter
Constant 161.29 (7.40)a 121.08 (3.81)a 184.27 (9.03)a
Income 0.013 (4.70)a 0.016 (3.95)a 0.013 (5.02)a
Average water price 20.78 (20.05) 39.05 (1.66) 20.27 (21.79)c
Housing type (D2) 220.79 (21.31) 235.1 (21.65) 215.38 (21.12)
Housing type (D3) 36.57 (3.14)a 74.0 (4.36) a 13.21 (21.21)
Household size 226.18 (29.54)a 233.27 (28.36)a 220.99 (28.19)a
House size 0.092 (1.34) 0.088 (0.85) 0.074 (1.14)
Garden size 0.018 (0.88) 0.001 (0.04) 0.001 (0.31)
Garden necessities 44.15 (4.75)a 22.82 (4.88)a 9.26 (3.07)a
Swimming pool (D) 37.88 (2.62)a 69.18 (3.28)a 0.04 (0.03)
Consumer behaviour index 24.60 (21.86)b 23.73 (21.04) 24.35 (21.89)b
R2 0.367 0.393 0.199
F-value 29.60 32.324 12.994
Significance of F-value 0.000 0.000 0.000
N(obs) 532 532 532
a
significant at the 0.01 level; bsignificant at the 0.05 level; csignificant at the 0.10 level; dsignificant at the 0.15 level.

single-family houses obtains a significant coef-
ficient in this model. Consistent with previous
findings (Domene et al., 2005), households
with a high proportion of turf grass in the
garden have a larger water consumption.
However, garden size does not appear to be
significant. This shows that garden design
(with high or low watering necessities) is
more important than garden size in determining
water consumption. Lastly, the number of
members per household or the housing type
may exert a more major effect on water
consumption than the house area.
Economic variables such as income and
water price show different results. On the
one hand, income appears as a significant
explanatory variable. Larger incomes may
increase the standard of living expressed in
the presence of more water-using appliances
and amenities, and outdoor water facilities.
Understanding private gardens, and particu-
larly ‘Atlantic’ gardens as positional goods,

Table 5. Water demand estimates using per capita water consumption by season for low-density housing
(t-statistics in parentheses)
Annual average Summer Winter
a a
Constant 172.66 (4.12) 174.96 (2.53) 183.82 (4.82)a
Income 0.023 (3.83)a 0.031 (2.77)a 0.013 (3.76)a
Average water price 44.07 (1.39) 93.05 (1.03) 20.62 (21.79)
Household size 244.54 (27.78)a 261.53 (26.52)a 231.83 (26.11)a
House size 0.022 (0.20) 0.015 (0.99) 0.013 (0.13)
Garden size 0.013 (0.36) 0.026 (0.41) 0.001 (0.27)
Garden necessities 24.54 (3.71)a 37.28 (3.42)a 14.19 (3.07)b
Swimming pool (D) 29.24 (1.49)d 53.30 (1.65)c 24.87 (20.27)
Consumer behaviour index 28.53 (21.47)d 27.97 (20.84) 28.85 (21.89)c
R2 0.407 0.340 0.276
F-value 13.991 10.511 7.749
Signficance of F-value 0.000 0.000 0.000
N (obs) 171 171 171
a
significant at the 0.01 level; bsignificant at the 0.05 level; csignificant at the 0.10 level; dsignificant at the 0.15 level.

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 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
we can conclude that higher-income house-
holds also have larger domestic water con-
sumption than middle- and low-income
households.
On the other hand, average water prices for
different consumption levels do not appear
significant. Partly, this can be explained by
the fact that consumers do not perceive the
water associated with their necessities as too
costly. In addition, the expenditure required
for water uses represents a very small fraction
of the total household budget. Regarding con-
sumer behaviour, domestic water consump-
tion decreases significantly when the number
of water conservation practices increases.
The results also show differences between
seasons. In summer, the variables selected
explain the variance of the dependent variable
better than in winter. The significant explana-
tory variables in summer are the same as in the
annual average estimates, except for the case
of consumer behaviour, which may be offset
by the effect of the outdoor uses. Thus, in
single-family houses with a garden and swim-
ming pool, a substantial increase in total water
consumption would be expected in this
season. However, the effects of the housing
type and the swimming pool are not relevant
in winter where conservation practices
become significant. Regarding the economic
variables, it is interesting to observe that in
the winter season average prices appear to
be significant. The lack of outdoor uses and,
consequently, a similar consumption among
household types, may explain this fact,
especially when it is in the high-density
housing type where the average water price
is higher and the consumption is lower.
Estimates for the low-density housing
type. Regressions run only for single-family
households show that the variables selected
explain better the variance of annual average
per capita water consumption (R 2 ¼ 0.47).
Consumption is expected to be higher in this
house type and, again, household size,
income and garden necessities appear to be
the most explanatory variables. The presence
of a swimming pool and consumer behaviour
are also explicative but in a less significant
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1619
way. Hence, small changes in household size
may generate substantial changes in the per
capita water demand because fixed outdoor
uses are already higher. Social status also
plays an important role since changes in
income in single-family housing may induce
higher changes in water consumption than in
other house types. This would support the
idea that income has major effects when con-
siderable outdoor demands exist.
Also, water needs depending on the veg-
etation composition influence significantly
per capita domestic water consumption.
Therefore, gardens with important percen-
tages of their area occupied by turf grass
may increase domestic water consumption as
well. Again, average water prices do not
seem to bear much influence on consumption.
Differences between seasons are also
evident. The presence of outdoor uses would
induce substantial increases in the summer
season but not in winter. Consumer behaviour
also plays a part in the domestic water con-
sumption in the winter season since the
effect of the adoption of certain conservation
practices may not be offset by the presence
of outdoor uses.
7. Conclusions
The main objective of this research was to
assess the role of some sociodemographic
aspects, such as housing type, household size
and consumer behaviour, on domestic water
consumption using descriptive statistics and
a regression analysis. This theme is relevant
for southern European and other Mediter-
ranean contexts where water resources are
subject to strong pressures and, in the specific
case of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona,
where residential water supply is very vulner-
able to precipitation deficits—as the drought
of 2004 –05 testifies. Changes in urban
growth and the consolidation of new urban
lifestyles are leading to a more complex
water scenario where consumption tends to
grow in the expanding suburbs and to dimin-
ish in the central cores.
The following conclusions can be drawn
from our research. First, housing and
1620 ELENA DOMENE AND DAVID SAURÍ
demographic factors may be significant expla-
natory variables of domestic water consump-
tion. In particular, household size and
housing type appear to be important factors
behind consumption. Small families show
higher per capita domestic water consumption
than larger ones and single-family houses
have higher water consumption mainly
because of outdoor uses, especially gardens.
Most of all, high water consumption is associ-
ated with single-family housing with an
‘Atlantic garden’, planted with turf grass.
Secondly, water consumption is not con-
stant across incomes and the relationship is
positive in all housing types. However,
income may have a more minor impact than
housing type. For example, higher-income
households living in multistorey apartments
consume less water than middle-income
households living in single-family houses
with outdoor uses. Nevertheless, the positive
effect of income is more relevant when
outdoor uses are present.
Thirdly, consumer behaviour also plays an
important role as an explanatory factor,
although attitudinal variables seem to be less
important than sociodemographic and econ-
omic variables. For example, using low-flow
toilets cannot offset the effects of household
size or housing type, especially in summer.
Generally, consumer habits regarding indoor
water uses show certain moderation (for
example, showers are largely preferred to
baths) but the installation of water-saving
devices remains very low.
Fourthly, average water prices do not
appear to be significant in the Metropolitan
Region of Barcelona, except during the
winter season and for high-density house-
holds. This can be explained, partly, by the
fact that consumers do not perceive the
water associated with their necessities as too
costly. In addition, the expenditure required
for water uses represents on average about
1 per cent of the total household budget.
Our study may have some relevance for
policy-makers seeking to influence water
demand through specific policies. Although
the need for water conservation in the Metro-
politan Region of Barcelona has been
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acknowledged for some time, initiatives pro-
moting intensive water conservation are
scarce. Water management policies in our
study area have mostly followed two strat-
egies: water pricing and taxation, and water
conservation campaigns during drought
periods. These policies tend to ignore import-
ant socio-demographic and cultural variables.
However, over the past two decades, water
planners in other regions have begun to
employ disaggregated water use forecasts
which take into account differences in the
socioeconomic characteristics of the resident
population, as well as seasonal variations in
the economic and climatic conditions of
different study areas (Baumann et al., 1998;
Renwick and Archibald, 1998). Among the
information that policy planners may need to
evaluate effectively alternative measures to
achieve a reduction in demand, we must
emphasise the characteristics of the household
and, to some extent, how different types of
households are influenced by different socio-
demographic and economic variables.
Our results show that pricing policies alone
may not suffice to control domestic water
demand, although the highly heterogeneous
price system existing in the MRB precludes
any definitive conclusion in this respect.
Some structural factors, such as the increase
of welfare, the changes in urban growth and
the consolidation of new (sub)urban lifestyles,
may add more pressures to the water demand
that are difficult to manage. People moving
from the denser city to the periphery, where
residential water consumption is higher and
there is a significant presence of single-
family houses with gardens, can increase
future domestic water consumption.
If we consider gardens as one of the main
causes of rising domestic water consumption,
they should be targeted in the different conser-
vation campaigns by encouraging the use of
more Mediterranean species and of adequate
technology. At the regional level, land use
planning may play an important role recom-
mending more compact urban developments.
However, the containment of low-density
housing types may collide with the strong
social perception that lower-density cities
 URBANISATION AND WATER CONSUMPTION
are sustainable and improve the quality of life
(Garcia and Riera, 2003; Enquesta de la Regió
de Barcelona, 2000).
Finally, our results show that domestic
water consumption varies significantly
according to the characteristics of households.
This fact highlights the importance of con-
ducting analyses of residential water con-
sumption at the household level. However,
the variables selected fall relatively short of
explaining the variability in domestic water
consumption. Thus further research is
needed on the characteristics of the new
urban lifestyles occurring in the Metropolitan
Region of Barcelona and in other urban
regions in southern Europe in terms of their
repercussions on domestic water consump-
tion. Especially, more information is needed
on the extent to which changes in family com-
position increase domestic water consumption
and how conservation practices by consumers
can be influenced by policy-makers. In this
respect, it is likely that the next wave of
water conservation policies in our study area
will aim at integrated actions with other
public policies such as mandatory regulations
for new housing projects (in this case, for
example, the installation of water-saving
devices). Also, further research is needed
regarding the effect of price increases that
are very likely to be applied after the
full implementation of the European Water
Framework Directive of 2000.
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