Gaps
A gap is an overflow with a flagged problem and no measure recorded against it — the clearest thing on this site to put to a regulator.
13 overflows have a known problem and no measure recorded against them.
Between them these overflows account for about 4,046 hours of discharge in the last full year and 173 dry-weather spills since 2020. A dry-weather spill has no rainfall to excuse it — on any reading of regulation 4, that is a prima facie breach with nothing on record to address it.
Each flagged problem carries a weight that scales with its magnitude; an overflow's severity is the sum of its weights. A gap is a flagged overflow with no measure linked to it. An unlinked overflow is not proof that nothing is being done — it is what the public record shows. Frequency here is measured in discharge events — every discrete discharge over 15 minutes, not the Environment Agency's counted-spills figure. How we weight problems → Two ways to count →
What is funded, and where
South West Water reports 291 funded overflow improvements across its region, and Ofwat has secured £24m in section 19 undertakings — including £20m to reduce discharges at specific overflows in sensitive and community areas. Which overflows those schemes cover, and whether any of them address the gaps above, is a fair question to put to the company in writing.