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 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 apologise 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’.
TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer had posted at 10.42am: ‘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 the airport: ‘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?’
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‘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 they were 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.
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 have reported being without water, too, 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.
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