Increased awareness of the negative effects of sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events on human health and aquatic life led to the development of various control measures, of which implementation is impeded by the lack of information on SSO occurrences, flows and volumes. The collection of such information requires data acquisition systems, which can be costly and are fully utilized just during limited time periods of the year. In search for inexpensive approaches to SSO monitoring, the feasibility of using existing flap gate installations, serving for prevention of back-up flows into sewers, as constriction flow meters was investigated, with promising results. An experimental pilotscale setup was designed to allow steady water flow through a flap gate built into a partition wall between two chambers. The stabilized water heads in the chambers and the flow rate through the flap gate were measured, for both dry and submerged flap gate conditions, and five flap gate sizes (200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 mm), with relatively heavy covers (6–102 kg). The measured data were used to develop flow rating curves, by non-linear regression, in the form Q = f (ΔH), where Q is the discharge through the flap gate and ΔH is the pressure differential upstream and downstream of the gate. The regression curves fitted the experimental data with high precision (R2 >0.99). The use of flow rating curves for estimation of the SSO volume was discussed. This study demonstrated that the water head measurements upstream and downstream of the flap gate can provide a reliable, accurate and inexpensive method for quantification of the SSO discharges and volumes.