Pix Brook is a chalk stream in England that flows in a northerly and westerly direction through Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire and Stotfold in Bedfordshire to the River Ivel north of Arlesey. It is both urban and rural in character. [1]
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Pix Brook is 7.931 kilometres (4.9 miles) in length. [2] When measured in 2022, the brook had a moderate ecological status. Its hydromorphological designation is 'heavily modified', [2] meaning it fails to achieve good ecological status owing to significant man-made alterations to its natural physical character. [3] Environment Agency data gives the Pix Brook a catchment area of 15.505 square kilometres (6.0 sq mi). It is one of twenty water bodies making up the Ivel Operational Catchment. [2] A study published in the mid-1990s described Pix Brook as a shallow stream over a bed of coarse-grained calcareous gravel and sand, noting its 'relatively steep' gradient fall of 2.8 metres (9.2 ft) per km in comparison to the less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) per km fall of the River Ivel. [4]
The Letchworth Sewage Treatment Works operated by Anglian Water discharges treated waste water into Pix Brook. [5]
In Letchworth the brook is culverted through Howard Park, and the roadway of Rushby Mead bordering the eastern edge of the park follows the curves of the brook. [6] At Norton Common local nature reserve mineral-rich springs supply the brook. [7]
Colloquially known as 'Dudleys Ditch' the river is the reason why local school Etonbury Academy got the prefix 'eton' (meaning stream).[ citation needed ] A school named Pix Brook Academy was initially based at Etonbury Academy from 2019 but a year later moved to newly constructed facilities in Stotfold. [8]
