Both terminals at Gatwick Airport were left without running water after low pressure from a nearby treatment works disrupted toilets, cafés and drinking fountains, forcing staff to hand out bottled water while flights continued unaffected.
Both terminals at Gatwick Airport suffered a severe water outage, leaving toilets unable to flush and hand-washing facilities out of action, as staff handed out bottled water to passengers. The disruption was caused by low water pressure from SES Water’s Bough Beech Water Treatment Works, which supplies parts of Surrey, West Sussex, Kent and south London. Despite the scale of the outage, flights at the airport remained unaffected throughout.
What was affected
The loss of water supply had a wide-reaching impact across both terminals. Restaurants, cafés and bars were unable to serve hot or cold drinks due to the lack of running water, while water fountains across the airport were also taken out of service, leaving bottled water as passengers’ main source of drinking water. Travellers reported that toilets, sinks, cafés and other passenger facilities were significantly disrupted until the supply issue was resolved.
Despite the disruption to passenger facilities, security screening, baggage handling and check-in operations all continued to run as normal, with Gatwick confirming there was no impact on flight schedules.
Airport response
In a statement posted on social media, Gatwick Airport said: “A water issue in the Horley area is causing disruption at the airport this morning. The problem is affecting water supply in both terminals and is currently under investigation. Bottled water is being made available to passengers and staff across the airport and other contingency measures are being put in place to ensure the welfare of our passengers. We will provide further updates and apologise for any inconvenience to passengers.”
Airport staff distributed bottled water throughout both terminals while contingency plans were put in place to manage the disruption.
Water company response
SES Water said it was working to restore normal water pressure as quickly as possible, while prioritising bottled water deliveries for vulnerable customers affected by the wider supply issue across the region.
