Both terminals at Gatwick Airport lost running water on Sunday morning after a power failure at a treatment works that serves the area, shutting bars and restaurants, disabling toilets, and forcing staff to hand out bottled water to passengers.
The outage at the UK’s second busiest airport created confusion and frustration as passengers described a lack of communication from the airport, with some reporting they had not heard any announcements about the issue.
SES Water, the company that supplies the airport and also serves parts of Kent, Surrey, and south London, said a power outage at its Bough Beech treatment works caused complications that left some customers with low water pressure or a temporary loss of supply. In an update just before 13:45 BST, the company said the treatment works were back up and running but that water still needed to be treated before services could return to normal.
Passengers describe lack of information and worsening conditions
Gatwick apologised and said in a statement that there was currently no water supply in either terminal. The airport said staff were on hand to support passengers and provide assistance, and that some restaurant partners had opened to provide additional seating.
Passenger Paul Lee told the BBC he had not heard any announcements about the issue or seen bottled water being handed out. He said restaurants and lounges were shut but shops remained open. “For people who need to go to the toilet, this isn’t good, and still no announcement or official information,” Lee said. He added that for passengers departing in a few hours, the situation would be bad.
Roger Wood, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, arrived at Gatwick’s south terminal to meet friends ahead of his flight and found no water at all. He told the BBC there was no Nando’s, no Wetherspoon, and that all those places were completely shut, stopping people from coming in because there was no fresh water or ability to wash hands. The only places to buy food were outlets like Pret and Itsu selling packaged items, or shops. Wood said people could enter the toilets but had no way to wash hands, and conditions had grown worse over the hour or two he was there.
Sarah Houchin, whose flight to Lefkada in Greece was delayed by nearly two and a half hours, said toilets were either closed or passengers were sent to another toilet with a really long queue. “The toilets are disgusting,” she said. “As you can imagine, you can smell them.” Houchin said there had been very little information from the airport, though she added that people understood there was nothing they could do about it.
Ian Bubb, flying to Alicante with British Airways, said there had been a total lack of information from the airport and called it an absolute disgrace, citing a total lack of contingency planning for such an event. He said he had booked a lounge but was not allowed to sit inside.
Former MP Michael Dugher urged the airport on social media to at least allow people to use the chairs in all the closed restaurants and bars. “No water is one thing but depriving people of somewhere to sit is another,” Dugher wrote, noting that families were having to sit on the floor.
Flight disruption and airline response
BBC reporter Adam Dowling, flying from Valencia to Gatwick, said his flight had been delayed because of the water supply disruption and that passengers had been informed landing slots were being moved around to reduce the number of flights coming in. The BBC said it had contacted Gatwick to confirm if there had been any flight disruption. The Guardian reported that flights were not affected.
SES Water confirmed that Kent postcode TN11 and parts of Surrey postcodes RH1, RH6, and RH10 had no water supply or low pressure. The company said it was delivering bottled water to vulnerable customers. Gatwick Airport and the local area also suffered water issues in July 2022, when low pressure caused by a burst water main affected 1,200 houses and closed toilet facilities at the airport.
The airport said it was monitoring the situation and working closely with the water company to restore supplies as quickly as possible. SES Water said it would update customers on the progress of the work as soon as it could.