Gatwick Airport left with ‘no water, flushing toilets or drinking fountains’

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, airport users are unable to flush toilets, use drinking fountains, or have beverages made at cafés and restaurants.

Flights are currently unaffected.

In a statement shared on X, Gatwick 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 apologize for any inconvenience to passengers.’

The online announcement was made just before 11am, after which disgruntled travellers voiced their fury at how it came ‘too late’.

Charlotte Anstey, who is travelling from Gatwick to Spain, explained to Metro the carnage she has encountered: ‘I went through security, and there was no announcement about the fact that there is no running water after security.

‘I found out from a restaurant staff member that there is no running water after security.’

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

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

Like several others, she 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.’

At 10:42am, prior to the airport’s own 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…’

Meanwhile, @Paulx3qq2 raged in reply to Gatwick: ‘This came way too late. And even now there’s no announcement yet at the airport. Chaos, passengers don’t know what’s going on. Is the management team on leave or what’s going on?’

‘You haven’t even told the passengers in the terminal what’s going on and you post this on here?’, echoed @Liamnicholson82, who later said he, too, was struggling to locate the bottled water supposedly being provided.

@RealRotator also criticised the ‘poor communication’, stating that the water crisis is a ‘public health issue’, since people cannot wash their hands in the airport’s bathrooms.

Given that Gatwick is the UK’s second busiest airport and handles around 46million passengers per year, many are calling for it to close until the problems are solved.

Sutton and East Surrey (SES) Water, which serves residents in Surrey, West Sussex, Kent, and South London, has 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.

Bottled water is being delivered to those who are registered as vulnerable and on the priority register as teams attempt to restore the supplies.

The water drama comes after 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 £380m deal.

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