Gatwick Airport Water Outage Disrupts Toilets and Restaurants
A water‑supply failure on 26 July 2026 left both terminals of London Gatwick Airport without running water. The outage, traced to a power failure at SES Water’s Bough Beech Water Treatment Works serving the Horley area, caused low pressure and loss of supply for customers in postcode districts TN8, TN11, RH1 and RH6.
With no water for flushing toilets, hand‑washing stations or café services, the airport handed out bottled water to passengers and staff and announced contingency measures. Flights continued to operate as scheduled, but passengers reported closed restaurants, long queues for toilets and criticism of the airport’s communication about the disruption. The incident remains under investigation by airport authorities and SES Water, which is working to restore normal supply.
Entities: Bough Beech Water Treatment Works · Gatwick Airport · Horley area · SES Water · United Kingdom
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 21 SOURCES] Flights at Gatwick Airport continued to operate without cancellations during the water outage. (believes)
- [● 23 SOURCES] The outage was linked to an issue at SES Water’s Bough Beech Water Treatment Works, which reported low pressure or loss of supply for customers. (states)
- [● 21 SOURCES] The airport supplied bottled water to passengers and staff as a contingency measure. (states)
- [● 24 SOURCES] SES Water reported that customers in postcode areas TN8, TN11, RH1 and RH6 were experiencing low water pressure or loss of supply. (reports)
- [● 23 SOURCES] The water outage at Gatwick Airport was under investigation by airport authorities. (states)
- [● 23 SOURCES] A water‑supply issue in the Horley area caused disruption at Gatwick Airport on 26 July 2026. (states)
- [● 21 SOURCES] Passengers criticised the lack of timely public communication about the water outage. (reports)
- [● 24 SOURCES] Both terminals at Gatwick Airport lost running water, disabling toilet flushing, hand‑washing stations and café services. (states)