The Jasień is 12.7 km (7.9 miles) long,[1] beginning its course in the hills of the Stoki district in the northeast of the city at an elevation of c. 245 metres above sea level,[2] and flowing down towards the Ner river valley in the southwest.

[19] The situation deteriorated throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century as the river continued to receive significant amounts of polluted waters.

[25] As the Jasień became part of the city's canal system, its main function became the transfer of both industrial and residential waste water and rainfall outside Łódź towards the Ner river.

[26][27] The twentieth century saw the construction of chemical plants on the Jasień, and the river was used for the disposal of toxic waste.

[33] The residence of Edward Herbst, Karl Scheibler's son-in-law, was built on its northern side between 1875 and 1877, and the pond became part of the residential complex.