{"id":153374,"date":"2025-09-13T07:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T07:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/153374\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T07:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T07:22:10","slug":"water-company-bans-us-billionaires-new-lake-being-filled-during-hosepipe-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/153374\/","title":{"rendered":"Water company bans US billionaire\u2019s new lake being filled during hosepipe ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A water firm has banned tanker companies from delivering its water to an American billionaire<\/a>\u2019s lake during the drought season nearby<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite a local domestic hosepipe ban in place in Hampshire<\/a>, water from there was legally transported to fill the lake at Stephen Schwarzman\u2019s property in neighbouring Wiltshire.<\/p>\n

Local residents have spotted and filmed multiple water tankers filling up from standpipes in Hampshire,<\/a> where a drought order is in place, the BBC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those tankers were then taken to Conholt Park, a 2,500-acre estate owned by Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of asset management company Blackstone.<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone, s thought to have a net worth of more than \u00a330bn (Getty)<\/p>\n

Mr Schwarzman, who is thought to have a net worth of more than \u00a330bn, is one of the world\u2019s richest men and a financial backer of US president Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

He has been renovating the 17th-century shooting estate, worth approximately \u00a380m, ever since he bought it in 2022. This extensive project includes the redevelopment and construction of a new lake.<\/p>\n

The exact amount of water which has been taken is unclear because multiple users have access to the standpipes, but Southern Water noted there was a \u201csignificant\u201d spike within the last week. But a spokesperson for Mr Schwarzman estimated this equates to \u201capproximately 8 to 9 per cent of all of the water transported to the estate in recent weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n

The operation was legally able to bypass drought restrictions in Hampshire under licence, because the construction work is not domestic and therefore not accountable to a hosepipe ban.<\/p>\n

However, Southern Water<\/a> said it took immediate action to investigate and banned tankers from using water from these standpipes.<\/p>\n

Managing director for water Tim McMahon added: \u201cI\u2019m appalled by this use of water, as I\u2019m sure many of our Hampshire customers will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Southern<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Southern Water imposed a temporary use ban on its customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in July (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n

The water firm wants to reassure its over 2 million customers that it is having \u201crobust conversations\u201d with companies using this water, and is conducting a \u201cthorough review\u201d into how they can \u201ctighten up any legal loopholes\u201d so this \u201ccannot happen again\u201d.<\/p>\n

Blackstone told The Independent that any suggestion the owners violated local water regulations would be \u201cfalse and misleading\u201d, and said Southern Water representatives had confirmed the tankers were operating entirely within the law. <\/p>\n

A spokesperson added: \u201cThe new owners of Conholt Park are committed to the restoration and preservation of a landmark estate of national heritage importance. Every aspect of the project is advancing with the highest regard to local laws and planning regulations. This applies to the lake and sophisticated rainwater collection system that aggregates runoff from the main house, outbuildings, and nearby paved areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the majority of the construction period, until approximately the last three weeks, water purchased and transported to the site by tankers was used principally to support the building works and associated personnel. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost recently, as construction winds down (expected to be completed very soon), a proportion of transported water has been used in connection with irrigation and the lake. The water has been sourced through licensed providers responsible for the lawful and proper extraction and delivery. Water has been sourced from multiple locations, largely outside the region. Following yesterday\u2019s request from Southern Water that water is not directed to the lake, the estate has readjusted the supply of water accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Southern Water put a hosepipe ban in place on 21 July this year in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, after reservoir levels fell during the driest start to the year since 1976 in England.<\/p>\n

Almost a million of its customers in southern England are affected by the new restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-153374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}