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Yesterday after work I headed over to the drome to blow off a little steam in the form simulated engine out maneuvers from cruising altitude. Everything went well and I joined my wife for dinner around 7:45. About 8:45 my right eye began to feel as though it had some dirt floating around in it. We joined a neighbor for a glass of wine and in addition to the grittiness now in both eyes, I noticed I was becoming sensitive to candle light. By 9:15 (just about 2.5hr after completing my flight) I was blind for all intents and purposes. The irritation was nearly unbearable with my vision blurred to the point of being useless (I couldn’t have distinguished my wife from one of @Marauder's girls). I didn’t know what to think. I flushed my eyes and tried to ride it out with eye drops. I canned my stoicism and by 10:15 I was in the ER. Fortunately, they were slow. I told the Dr. that this reminded me of the time I had “Arc Eye” in my 20s but this was much, much worse. It was then that I realized that a brief (just seconds) exposure to a UV water treatment light earlier that morning might have caused the issue. Dr. confirmed that I had a severe case of photokeratitis. Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned (pun intended) being nearly taken out by a light bulb. I cannot imagine how I would have completed my earlier flight with those symptoms. I am still experiencing minor discomfort, but I am grateful to be able to see well enough now to type this. Do not take UV light exposure lightly. I would have never imagined an injury so severe from just a few seconds of exposure. There but by the grace of god go I…would have made for a weird NTSB report and very difficult situation for controllers trying to assist a newly blind man asking for assistance.