HELP with UV Sterilizer plumbing

[eott]

I recently installed a UV Sterilizer light using PVC pipe at the inlet/outlets on the metal housing. As soon as I turned it on I knew I was an idiot as the UV light was making the pipe glow. I figured I'd replace it in a few months as the UV would break down the plastic PVC. After only a few weeks our water began to have a 'burnt' smell to it so I replaced the inlet/outlets with a 12" section of stainless steel flex pipe. Sure enough the PVC I removed was brown on the inside and looked like the UV light burnt it. Anyways, the "fix" didn't seem to work as I'm still smelling the same burnt smell in the water and am not sure how to proceed now. Is it possible the UV light is being reflected in the stainless pipe and continuing to burn the PVC? I'm attaching 3 pics - 1 of the original setup with PVC Connections, 1 of the cut PVC pipe, and 1 of the new setup with stainless steel connectors. Whats the best to connect to a UV light? I've read conflicting articles - some say copper but others say copper is bad..Thought about using a 6ft section of washing machine connectors (figured light couldnt be reflected along that length of pipe) but have read they have a PVC core.

Here are the pictures:
http://imgur.com/a/6Yw3P

http://imgur.com/a/0lBVD

 

[Reach4]

12" section of stainless steel flex pipe.

Are you talking about corrugated stainless steel, or braided stainless steel?

Was the PVC pipe before the UV burned the same as the PVC following the UV? Is that input on the left and output on the right?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[eott]

Are you talking about corrugated stainless steel, or braided stainless steel?

It's corrugated stainless steel. I've edited the post to include a link to pictures. As I mentioned, I'm hesitant to use braided as I believe it still has a PVC core although I think a 6 ft section would have the length to ensure no light can be reflected that far.

They were both burned the same. That picture is just a show of a normal colored PVC vs what was 'burnt' on both the inlet and outlet.

 

[Reach4]

The softener feeds the right side of the UV device? Usually you have a 5 micron or finer filter before the UV.

 

[eott]

The softener feeds the right side of the UV device? Usually you have a 5 micron or finer filter before the UV.

Yes. System feeds filter first using a 5 micron carbon filter, then onto the softener, then the softener feeds the UV light from the right and water flows out the left to the house.

 

[Reach4]

Was the PVC pipe from the softener before the UV burned the same as the PVC following the UV? Is that input on the left and output on the right of your photo?

What I am wondering is if the coloration is from light hitting the pipe directly, or that color and taste/smell is from an effect on something in the water.

I have no experience with such lights.

 

[eott]

Was the PVC pipe from the softener before the UV burned the same as the PVC following the UV? Is that input on the left and output on the right of your photo?

What I am wondering is if the coloration is from light hitting the pipe directly, or that color and taste/smell is from an effect on something in the water.

I have no experience with such lights.

Yes both inlet and outlets were burnt the same. I'm new to this as well but believe it was from the light. I added a new album link that shows the threaded PVC connectors both burnt as well as another image of the PVC glowing from the UV light.

 

[Reach4]

What was the left pipe in your photo?

Did you use Gorilla PVC cement? That does not look like the common PVC cement.

Note that for new piping, codes call for CPVC rather than PVC. I understand staying with the PVC you have already.

 

[eott]

What was the left pipe in your photo?

Did you use Gorilla PVC cement? That does not look like the common PVC cement.

Note that for new piping, codes call for CPVC rather than PVC. I understand staying with the PVC you have already.

The left pipe was from the outlet on the UV housing. No, not Gorilla PVC cement, just regular Oatey All Purpse PVC, CPVC, and ABS cement (the red can).
Yes, I do know code calls for CPVC but I did have PVC around, plus I knew it was only holding cold water and wouldn't come close to exceeding the limits of regular PVC.

 

[Reach4]

The left pipe was from the outlet on the UV housing.

That one does not look discolored. Only the inlet side. There went my suspicions.

 

[Nolan]

Hello eott and Reach, UV will not "burn" PVC in the traditional sense. The effect UV has on standard schedule 40 PVC is to reduce it's impact resistance, which means it becomes very brittle. It will not discolour as your images show. To me that brown colour just looks like sediment or iron from the water, which I find strange since you said you were running it through a 5 micron filter.

As Reach often says: I am not a professional. Just going off of personal experience.

 

[eott]

Hello eott and Reach, UV will not "burn" PVC in the traditional sense. The effect UV has on standard schedule 40 PVC is to reduce it's impact resistance, which means it becomes very brittle. It will not discolour as your images show. To me that brown colour just looks like sediment or iron from the water, which I find strange since you said you were running it through a 5 micron filter.

As Reach often says: I am not a professional. Just going off of personal experience.

Thank for the reply Nolan. I hear what you're saying, but I have no other discoloration in the pipes other than the inlet and outlet of the UV housing, and even then the discoloration only travels up the pipe at most 6-8 inches. I've had the water tested and there is very minimal iron content in the water. Plus, I can't imagine any iron or sediment having that much of an effect in only 2 weeks.

I've since disconnected the UV light just to try to isolate problems and will be disinfecting the well and entire house with bleach. I've read this should be done anyways when installing any new plumbing fixtures. Although the burning/rubbery smell has since left, I'm back to having an egg/sulfur smell. So, figured disinfection would be a good start.

I saw your post and have had others suggest to use copper pipe around the UV light. Odd that your smell goes away when bypassing the softener. I've pretty much isolated my issue to the UV light seeing that when I turn the light off, the smell goes away.

 

[Nolan]

I have copper for my whole system and I definitely do not have an issue with my UV light so you are probably right. Copper around your light seems like a straight forward fix.

EDIT: I got thinking about this afterwards, my UV light tends to get pretty hot overnight with no water flow. So maybe you actually are burning the PVC hence the brownish colour. If this is the case copper will probably help but it is also a good conductor of heat so it could just travel to the PVC further down the line depending on how much you run. I know PVC is not rated for warm water but you could try CPVC.

 

[eott]

I have copper for my whole system and I definitely do not have an issue with my UV light so you are probably right. Copper around your light seems like a straight forward fix.

EDIT: I got thinking about this afterwards, my UV light tends to get pretty hot overnight with no water flow. So maybe you actually are burning the PVC hence the brownish colour. If this is the case copper will probably help but it is also a good conductor of heat so it could just travel to the PVC further down the line depending on how much you run. I know PVC is not rated for warm water but you could try CPVC.

Yeah, that's what I'm actually thinking of using. Neighbor just moved in a few weeks ago and is military, so in order to pass inspection he needed to have clean water, which like ours, failed the first test. Builder installed a UV light for them using CPVC and he's had no issues of 'burning' smell so I think that's my best option at this point (and easiest) - No need for copper/PVC transitions, soldering, etc.

Appreciate everyone's help!