Southern Water bans tankers after company water used to fill billionaire’s lake

Southern Water has banned tanker operators from collecting water from standpipes after residents filmed tankers taking licensed supplies from a drought-hit part of Hampshire to fill a new lake on the Wiltshire estate of billionaire investor Stephen Schwarzman.

The company said the extractions were lawful because the water was being taken under licence for non-domestic construction and irrigation work, which are not covered by current local drought restrictions for household customers. Southern Water’s managing director, Tim McMahon, said the firm was "appalled by this use of water" and had imposed an immediate ban on tankers extracting from the affected standpipes while it conducts a review.

The spike in tanker activity was first reported to Southern Water by residents in Andover, who filmed multiple vehicles filling from public standpipes and following them as they travelled roughly eight miles to Conholt Park, a 2,500-acre estate over the border in Wiltshire. Locals say the movements increased in the last week, with some people recording activity at night.

Laurence Leask, an air conditioning inspector, said he had woken at about 3 a.m. to follow convoys of tankers and estimated there were as many as 30 tankers a day, which he calculated could amount to about one million litres daily. "That's a lot of water," he told the BBC. Another neighbour, Trevor Marshall, said the use of water while a household hosepipe ban is in force felt "incredibly outrageous."

Southern Water serves more than two million customers across the south of England. The company said it did not know exactly how much water had been taken from the standpipes because other users also access them, but it observed a recent spike in withdrawals and described the volumes as "significant." McMahon said he was leading "a thorough review" to tighten monitoring and close any legal loopholes.

Conholt Park’s owners have been renovating the 17th-century shooting estate since purchasing it in 2022. Work on the property includes constructing a new lake and upgrading landscaping and irrigation systems. A spokesperson for Mr. Schwarzman confirmed that a small proportion of water transported by tankers had "very recently been used to help fill a new lake," but said the supply was "sourced through licenced providers responsible for the lawful and proper extraction and delivery."

Blackstone, the investment firm founded by Mr. Schwarzman, said in a statement that suggestions the estate had violated water regulations were "false and misleading." The company said water used for the restoration had been obtained from multiple locations, largely outside the region, and that most of the lake would be filled by an advanced irrigation system as construction winds down.

Local drought measures vary by area. Parts of Hampshire are subject to a drought order that restricts domestic use such as hosepipe watering, while neighbouring Wiltshire is not under the same order. Under existing rules, licensed non-domestic activities linked to construction and landscaping can be supplied by tanker operators, a legal distinction that Southern Water said it would examine as part of its review.

Environmental campaigners and residents said the episode highlights tensions created when licensed commercial extractions continue during periods of household restrictions. Southern Water said it would be "having robust conversations with those using this water and the companies working on their behalf" and would assess how to prevent similar situations.

McMahon said the occurrence was "highly unusual and rare" but that the company would look at both internal monitoring and any legal changes needed to prevent licensed commercial use undermining public perceptions during droughts. The firm did not provide immediate figures on how much water had been transported to Conholt Park.

Stephen Schwarzman is a U.S. financier who founded Blackstone and is a noted political donor. The estate purchase and ongoing renovation have attracted local attention because of the scale of the works and the timing amid dry conditions in parts of southern England. Southern Water said it would update customers and residents after completing its review into the recent tanker activity.