A study carried on in 1997 in the French island La Réunion, brought out an over-consumption of water, namely a consumption of 0,246 m3/day/inhabitant against 0,145 m3/day/inhabitant in continental France.

To explain this global figure, the Regional Directorate for the Environment (DIREN) charged the “Centre de recherches économiques et sociales de l'Université de La Réunion” (CERESUR) to carry on a study aiming at:
• measuring domestic water consumption, stricto sensu, in order to assess the quantitative importance of the over-consumption of water ;
• explaining the determinants of water consumption for the residential sector, in particular the role played by the uses, the equipments and the behaviour of individuals, in the over-consumption of water, in order to develop policy measures of rational use of water resource, allowing to reduce waste.

In order to achieve these goals, a stratified random survey was designed and conducted in 2004, on a sample of 2000 households, in order to collect the necessary information to perform these analyses. Our study analyses this quantitative information to meet the objectives of the DIREN mandate.