When working on contaminated water sources, one common contaminant is iron
. Iron is a natural mineral in the earth that natural water sources sometimes flow through. If you use well water that has a dark tint to it and usually accompanied by a foul odor, you may be dealing with iron contamination. Iron contaminated water will cause plastic dishes to get a dark stain quickly, and also laundry will keep a dingy color to it. White clothes washed repeatedly in this water will look dirty even straight out of the washer. It sometimes is not feasible to up and move your well to another water source, besides the odds of still hitting the same water stream is high. This contaminant can be filtered out. When looking to purchase a water filtration system for your home, keep in mind that while iron will be the obvious water contaminant you are dealing with, does not mean it's the only one. You should still have a water sample tested by a professional for this very reason. With a heavy iron contamination, a single stage cartridge filter will not be sufficient. You should consider the two or three stage filter bank. This will afford you the ability to put one cartridge in the system that is dedicated and designed solely for iron contamination. This will ensure an efficient filtration for all your water needs. This also will require regular cartridge changes in order to filter out the iron contamination. A water iron filter will be typically a cartridge filter for your bank system.