Index and table bloat wastes disk space and degrades query performance

Dead tuples accumulate in tables and indexes over time, causing bloat that wastes disk space and slows queries. pgwatch specifically tracks bloat levels that general monitoring tools miss.

Monitor bloat using pgwatch bloat monitoring dashboards or query pg_stat_user_tables for n_dead_tup. Run VACUUM or VACUUM FULL on affected tables. Review autovacuum settings and ensure autovacuum is not falling behind on specific tables. Consider increasing autovacuum_work_mem for faster vacuum operations.