magnetite in a well

My well water is delicious and clean. Lately, like for the past two years, a lot of magnetite has been showing up in the water. It clogs the washing machine cold water intake filter but not the hot. Why is this?

A Google search for magnetite and well water didn't come up with much, except glowing claims that magnetite water well solve all my health and spiritual problems and set me on a course to glory.

I do find it interesting that magnetite is one of the three kinds of crystals naturally found in the pineal gland, a gland I'm quite fond of.

Matu Collins wrote: It clogs the washing machine cold water intake filter but not the hot. Why is this?

Because it is settling out in your hot water tank first?

That makes sense! I wonder if the bottom of the hot water tank is gathering a thick layer of magnetite...

If your water heater gets you a guest appearance on 'Dirty Jobs', do I get a casting credit?

You probably have dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria in the well and surrounding aquifer. The crystals are probably maghemite (a hematite-magnetite hybrid of sorts). It is a difficult thing to fix. I know many people just use particle filters to reduce the nuisance.

I've seen it so bad the water looked black, and if you put a horseshoe magnet next to the jar the crystals would align with the magnetic field lines and the water would clear.