Darwen Operational Catchment
Water bodies
There are 10 water bodies in this operational catchment.
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About
The River Darwen rises in Jack's Key Clough flows through the town of Darwen and urban areas of Blackburn. The river was seriously polluted with human and industrial effluent during the Industrial Revolution, up to the early 1970s. The river often changed colour dramatically as a result of paper and paint mills routinely using river water to flush out dye and paint tanks. The industrial heritage is apparent in the number of weirs and manmade channels on the river and its tributaries. There are two major United Utilities Sewage Treatment Works; Darwen and Blackburn.
