page_title: Moston Brook
section_title: Pollution
hierarchical_section_title: Moston Brook / Environment / Pollution
caption_attribution_description: English: Moston Brook, a tributary of the River Irk, in Manchester, England. This is the inflow for one of its culverts near Wiliiams Road.
context_page_description: Moston Brook is a stream in Greater Manchester in north-west England and a tributary of the River Irk. The brook is formed at the confluence of Bower Brook and Hole Bottom Brook. This occurs near the Rochdale Canal in Failsworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It flows southwest, forming the border between Moston, Manchester and Failsworth before being culverted almost all of the remaining route to its meeting the River Irk. It has a total length of about 3.7 miles.
  The river was used industrially during the Cottonopolis period of Manchester's history, such as for the washing, bleaching and dyeing of yarns, although Moston was mostly noted for silk weaving. Clay and sand pits, which once fed brickworks, were later used for landfill sites. These landfills were later expanded by culverting the brook, though the last one closed in the 1990s. The brook's heavy industrial use and urban location led to it becoming badly polluted. In the early 2000s, the brook was identified as one of the most polluted bodies of water in Greater Manchester, if not the whole of the North West of England.
context_section_description: The proliferation of factories and works in north Manchester, Failsworth and Oldham during and after the Industrial Revolution led to Moston Brook becoming badly polluted. Local children referred to it as the "Black Brook", though the brook changed colour depending on the dyes or pigments being discharged into the brook and its tributaries. At the time, children were known to have drowned in the brook while playing there. Other pollutants over the years included oil gas tar from Hollinwood Gas Works and waste from Failsworth tannery. Both the Rochdale and Hollinwood Canals discharged overflows into the streams, so pollution from the canal water would also find its way into the system.
  From 1990 to 2007, the brook consistently received the lowest possible grade from the Environment Agency, meaning it was very polluted and had a severely restricted ecosystem. Of all the bodies of water in the Water Framework Directive, it was considered one of the most challenging to improve. It was thus one of the most polluted bodies of water in Greater Manchester, possibly even in the whole North West of England. As part of the Water Framework Directive, it was given the Ecological Quality of Moderate Potential and the possibility of achieving good status by 2027. The brook was failing with regard to levels of ammonia, phosphate and dissolved oxygen.
caption: The inflow to one of Moston Brook's culverts
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