It rises at two main springs north of Leith Hill on the Greensand Ridge, then descends steeply in a northward direction, before flowing eastwards along the Vale of Holmesdale.

During the early nineteenth century the sulphate-rich (chalybeate) waters of the Mag's Well spring were attributed by a countryside travel writer as having aided a person's recovery.

[6] The Pipp Brook itself has no sewage treatment works, few plains which it drains and as such an extremely narrow and low risk area of riparian flooding.

[6] These factors are instead present as to a few parcels of land of east Pixham sometimes considered Dorking by the national media based on a 2010s shorthand by the Environment Agency which has a 'Dorking Flood Area' comprising the sewage works, a handful of properties in Pixham and much of Brockham and Betchworth well upstream along the Mole to the east which are separated by more than a mile from Dorking and are narrowly in its post town.

There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish.