Water outage at Gatwick Airport disrupts services

Gatwick Airport is facing a major water supply disruption affecting both terminals, leaving toilets out of order and restaurants closed during the summer holiday peak. Source: BBC, CNA

What happened

The outage, reported Sunday morning, originates from a power failure at SES Water's Bough Beech Water Treatment Works, causing complications that resulted in low water pressure or complete loss of supply in parts of Sussex and Kent. Source: BBC The airport stated on X that a water issue in the Horley area was under investigation. Source: CNA

Impact

Passengers encountered non-functioning toilets, closed cafes and bars, and an inability to wash hands or fill water bottles. Source: The Guardian TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer posted that there was "no running water across the entire airport," while passenger Roger Wood described arriving to find "no communication" and a completely empty Wetherspoons. Source: The Guardian SES Water warned customers in postcode areas TN11, RH1, RH6, and RH10 of potential low pressure or no water. Source: The Guardian

Response

Gatwick distributed bottled water and implemented contingency measures, apologizing for the inconvenience. Source: CNA SES Water confirmed they were working with the airport to restore normal service "as quickly as possible." Source: BBC Flights remained unaffected. Source: CNA