Gatwick Airport Water Outage Disrupts Terminals After Treatment Plant Power Failure
A power cut at SES Water’s Bough Beech works left both terminals without running water, closing restaurants and toilets while flights continued.
London Gatwick Airport, Britain’s second-busiest air hub, suffered a complete loss of water supply to both terminals on Sunday after a power failure at a regional treatment plant. The outage forced the closure of all restaurants and bars, rendered toilets unusable, and left passengers unable to wash their hands or fill water bottles. The airport distributed bottled water and implemented contingency measures, while flights were not reported to be affected.
SES Water, the utility responsible for the Bough Beech treatment works, stated that a power outage at the site had caused “a number of complications” leading to low pressure or a temporary loss of supply for customers. The company confirmed that power had been restored but that water would need to undergo treatment before normal supply could resume. It said it was working with the airport to restore service as quickly as possible and apologised for the disruption.
The outage impacted both the North and South terminals of the airport, which serves as a base for no-frills carriers including EasyJet. Passengers posted on social media that they were unable to flush toilets, obtain hot drinks, or wash their hands. The airport, located south of London, acknowledged the problem on X, attributing it to a water issue in the Horley area and stating that bottled water was being provided to passengers and staff while contingency measures were put in place.
SES Water confirmed that the power failure at the Bough Beech works affected customers in parts of Kent and Surrey, including postcode areas TN8, TN11, and sections of RH1, RH6, and RH10. The company said it was distributing bottled water to vulnerable customers. Gatwick previously experienced a similar water supply failure in July 2022, when a burst water main led to the closure of sanitary facilities.
As of Sunday, the airport and SES Water were working to restore full service, with the utility indicating that supply would return gradually once treatment processes were completed. No timeline for full restoration was provided.
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