Passengers travelling through London’s Gatwick Airport faced disruption on Sunday after a power outage at a nearby water treatment plant affected water supplies across the airport. The incident left toilets without running water and forced the closure of restaurants and bars in both terminals, reported AP citing airport authorities. The authorities said they were working with the local water company to restore normal service as quickly as possible.
The disruption began after a power outage at SES Water’s Bough Beech Water Treatment Works caused low water pressure and temporary water supply losses in parts of Kent and Sussex, reported Reuters. SES Water said the airport was among the locations affected by the incident.
A local water supply issue is continuing to cause disruption. There is currently no water supply in either terminal.
— London Gatwick LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) July 26, 2026
Our staff are on hand to support passengers and provide assistance where needed, some restaurant partners have opened to provide additional seating.
We apologise… pic.twitter.com/B5UZHB1680
In a statement posted on X, Gatwick Airport said, “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.”
The airport later issued another update, saying, “We continue to work with SES Water and are closely monitoring the situation. We thank passengers for their patience and understanding and will provide further updates as soon as the water supply has been restored.”
What caused the disruption?
The disruption was linked to a power outage at Bough Beech Water Treatment Works, which supplies water to several communities in southeast England.
SES Water said the outage caused a drop in water pressure, leaving some customers with little or no water supply for a temporary period. “Gatwick Airport is being affected but we are working with them while our teams work to restore normal service as quickly as possible,” the company said in a statement.
Due to the reduced water supply, flushing toilets stopped working in both airport terminals, reported AP. Restaurants and bars also closed temporarily because they could not operate without running water.
Airport authorities said they introduced contingency measures, including distributing bottled water to passengers and staff.
How did passengers react?
Some travellers said the disruption created inconvenience, particularly for people waiting several hours for their flights.
Passenger Paul Lee said he had not received any information about the disruption or seen bottled water being handed out. “For people who need to go to the toilet, this isn’t good,” Lee told the BBC. “I’m taking off soon, so that’s fine, but for passengers in a few hours, this will be bad,” he added.
Former British Member of Parliament Michael Dugher also commented on social media, saying the closure of restaurants and bars reduced the number of available seats inside the terminals. He urged airport authorities to open those spaces so passengers could use them while waiting for their flights.
Gatwick Airport apologised for the inconvenience and said it continued to monitor the situation with SES Water.
The airport did not report any widespread flight cancellations linked to the water outage. Instead, the disruption mainly affected passenger facilities inside the terminals.
Gatwick is Britain’s second-busiest airport after Heathrow and handles millions of passengers every year, reported Reuters. Airport officials said they would continue updating travellers until the water supply returned to normal.
