Why Are Gatwick Toilets Closed? Water Outage Leaves Passengers Without Drinks or Hand Washing

Passengers at Gatwick Airport were left without flushing toilets, running taps or drinks on Sunday 26 July after a major water outage shut facilities across both terminals and forced bars and restaurants to close.

The disruption, which Gatwick and supplier SES Water blamed on a power failure at the Bough Beech treatment works, led the airport to hand out bottled water as travellers reported long queues, closed loos and limited information.

The water issue began on Sunday morning and affected not only Gatwick but parts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. SES Water, which supplies the Horley area and the airport, said complications following a power cut at Bough Beech had caused low pressure or a complete loss of supply across several postcodes.

In an initial statement, Gatwick said 'there is currently no water supply in either terminal', adding that staff were on hand to support passengers, bottled water was being distributed and other contingency measures were in place. The airport said there had been no flight cancellations linked to the outage.

SES Water said on Sunday afternoon that Bough Beech was 'back up and running', later posting that 'supplies are gradually returning for impacted customers including Gatwick Airport', while warning it would take time for the network to normalise given what it called 'a highly unusual and complex issue'.

Passengers Report Queues, Closed Loos and Patchy Updates

Inside the terminals, the experience felt far less technical. One traveller said there was 'a very long queue to the ladies' toilets and a short queue to the men's, with no water to wash hands or flush the toilet'.

Passenger Sarah Houchin, waiting for a delayed flight to Lefkada, said: 'The toilets are either closed or they send you to another toilet and it's a really long queue, and the toilets are disgusting,' adding there had been 'very little information' from the airport.

Passenger Paul Lee said he had not heard any announcements or seen water being handed out, warning that 'for passengers in a few hours, this will be bad'.

Food Outlets, Lounges and Seating Hit by Water Loss

Hot food outlets were particularly hit. Roger Wood, from Tunbridge Wells, said he initially thought his friends were joking when told there were no bars or restaurants open in the South Terminal.

'There was no water at all, no Nando's, no Wetherspoon,' he said, noting the only options were packaged food from places like Pret and Itsu.

Some passengers were barred from lounges they had paid for. Ian Bubb, flying to Alicante with British Airways, described a 'total lack of information' and called it an 'absolute disgrace at Gatwick, total lack of contingency planning for such an event.'

Seating became a flashpoint too. Former MP Michael Dugher urged the airport to 'at least allow people to use the chairs in all the closed restaurants and bars,' writing that 'families are having to sit on the floor.'

TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer said there was 'no running water across the entire airport,' meaning 'no coffees, no water fountains, no flushing toilets and no hand washing,' and accused Gatwick of failing to make a clear public announcement.

Airlines Tweak Operations as Disruption Continues

EasyJet told customers bag-drop desks at Gatwick would open two hours before departure instead of three, urging passengers not to arrive early since they would not be able to enter the departure lounge until bag drop opened.

One flight from Valencia was delayed after landing slots were adjusted to reduce the number of arrivals.

By Sunday evening, Gatwick said water pressure was 'beginning to return to normal', with additional staff deployed to reopen facilities. Retailers including Marks & Spencer, Boots and WHSmith remained open throughout with shelves stocked with bottled water.