Gatwick Airport experiences water supply issues affecting facilities for passengers

London’s Gatwick Airport has been thrust into chaos this weekend after being left without running water.

Due to issues with low pressure and loss of supply, passengers at the UK’s second busiest airport were left unable to flush toilets, use drinking fountains, or have beverages made at cafés or restaurants.

Flights were unaffected, although long bathroom queues, limited access to seating due to closed bars, and mass confusion and frustration made for anything but a relaxing start to people’s holidays.

Charlotte Anstey, from Bretforton, who is travelling from Gatwick to Spain, told WTX that the airport made ‘no announcement about the fact there is no running water after security’.

‘I found out from a restaurant employee,’ she said.

‘The worst part of this is the lack of access to toilet facilities. There are guards blocking off access to toilets, and very poor communication on the ground about this.

‘If I’d known, I would not have gone through security.’

Charlotte continued: ‘It’s one of the busiest days of travel, with lots of families, and I cannot believe there was no announcement, comms from staff, or obvious signs before security warning passengers.’

In a statement shared on X, a Gatwick spokesperson wrote: ‘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.’

The post was shared just before 11am, and disgruntled travellers voiced fury that it had come ‘too late’.

Like several others, Charlotte had no success in sourcing the bottled water that was promised.

‘There are a few limited blocks of toilets open, but no free drinking water, and no sign of the water bottles they said would be handed out,’ she told us.

At 10.42am, before the airport’s statement, TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer posted: ‘If you’re on your way to @Gatwick_Airport, it might be helpful to know that there is no running water across the entire airport.

‘That means no coffees, no water fountains, no flushing toilets and no hand washing.

‘Gatwick hasn’t bothered to make a public announcement about this to passengers. How helpful…’.

Given that Gatwick handles around 46 million passengers per year, social media users called for it to close until the problems could be fully solved.

Sutton and East Surrey (SES) Water, which serves residents in Surrey, West Sussex, Kent, and South London, also informed customers in TN8, TN11, and parts of RH1 that there had been an issue at its Bough Beech Water Treatment Works.

Some people in RH6 reported being without water as well, with the company vowing to investigate their issues and deliver bottled water to those registered as vulnerable and on the priority register.

Their full statement, shared with WTX this morning, read: ‘Due to a number of complications caused by power outage at our Bough Beech Water Treatment Works, some customers are experiencing low water pressure or a temporary loss of supply.

‘We are working to overcome those complications and return the treatment works to supply as quickly as we can.

‘Gatwick Airport is being affected, but we are working with them while our teams work to restore normal service as quickly as possible.

‘We thank customers and our partners at Gatwick Airport for their patience.’

In an update just before 2pm, they confirmed: ‘We are pleased to provide an update that our Bough Beech water treatment works are back up and running.

‘We now need to treat the water before returning services to normal as quickly as we possibly can.’

SES has over 740,000 customers.

The water drama comes after Pennon, the owner of South West Water, which was fined in 2023 for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and seas in Devon and Cornwall, bought SES Water in a £380million deal.

Pennon, which also owns Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water, was one of several providers slapped with a fine as a result of investigations by the Environment Agency.

In the 2022-23 period alone, untreated sewage water was spilt 37,649 times.

Also during this period, Pennon’s chief executive, Susan Davy, looked set to receive a £522k bonus.

She later gave this up due to the sewage performance, as did two other bosses from Yorkshire Water and Thames Water.