1. Wastewater Sources, Typical Pollutants & Water Characteristics
Wastewater from energy storage battery manufacturing is primarily generated during six key production stages: cathode material synthesis, electrode coating, electrolyte filling and formation, battery cell cleaning, ultrapure water production, and workshop floor cleaning.
For Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery production, wastewater is mainly characterized by acidic streams containing high concentrations of phosphorus and lithium. Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) battery production generates wastewater containing complexed nickel, cobalt, and manganese compounds, while electrolyte preparation produces fluoride-containing organic wastewater. In addition, ultrapure water systems discharge high-salinity concentrate streams.
The wastewater contains three major categories of pollutants:
- Heavy metals, including lithium (Li), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and aluminum (Al), many of which exist in stable complexed forms that are difficult to remove through conventional precipitation.
- Organic contaminants, primarily N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), carbonate-based electrolytes, and PVDF binders. COD levels typically range from 3,000 to 8,000 mg/L, with poor biodegradability.
- Inorganic pollutants, including fluoride, phosphate, and sulfate, with total dissolved solids (TDS) exceeding 25,000 mg/L and pH fluctuating between 2 and 12.
The wastewater exhibits high salinity, strong corrosiveness, significant fluctuations in both flow rate and water quality, and must comply with the stringent discharge requirements specified in GB 30484-2013 – Discharge Standard of Pollutants for Battery Industry.
2. Common Customer Challenges
Environmental compliance requirements for the energy storage battery industry are becoming increasingly stringent. Heavy metals, fluoride, and COD are key regulatory indicators, and even minor fluctuations in wastewater quality may result in non-compliance and environmental penalties.
Conventional treatment systems typically require excessive chemical dosing and generate large volumes of hazardous sludge, resulting in high operating and disposal costs.
Standardized treatment equipment often fails to address the industry’s unique challenges, including the removal of complexed heavy metals and membrane fouling caused by high-salinity wastewater. Frequent system shutdowns for maintenance negatively affect continuous plant operation.
Meanwhile, valuable metals such as lithium and nickel are often lost in wastewater, leading to poor resource recovery and unnecessary economic losses.
As production capacity continues to expand, traditional concrete wastewater treatment facilities require large footprints, offer limited automation, and are difficult to upgrade. The industry increasingly demands integrated, customized wastewater treatment solutions specifically designed for energy storage battery manufacturing.
3. Treatment Process & Core Equipment Configuration
To effectively treat the complex characteristics of energy storage battery wastewater, we utilize an integrated treatment process consisting of:
Segregated Collection & Pretreatment → Advanced Oxidation → Biological Treatment → Advanced Membrane Desalination → MVR Crystallization for Near Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)
During pretreatment, different wastewater streams are collected separately and processed through equalization tanks, pH adjustment, decomplexation reactors, two-stage coagulation and sedimentation, and dissolved air flotation (DAF) systems to efficiently remove suspended solids, most heavy metals, and fluoride.
For refractory organic compounds, Fenton oxidation or ozone advanced oxidation is applied to break down complex organic molecules and significantly improve biodegradability.
The biological treatment stage adopts a UASB + Two-stage A/O + MBR process to effectively remove COD, ammonia nitrogen, and total phosphorus.
For advanced desalination, an anti-fouling Reverse Osmosis (RO) system combined with Electrodeionization (EDI) produces high-quality reclaimed water suitable for reuse in battery production and cleaning processes.
The final high-salinity concentrate is treated using DTRO membrane concentration followed by MVR evaporation and crystallization, achieving salt solidification and near zero liquid discharge.
Core equipment includes:
- Acid and alkali-resistant PE equalization tanks
- Heavy metal chelation reactors
- Micro/nano ozone oxidation systems
- Anti-fouling membrane filtration systems
- MVR evaporators
- Automatic online water quality monitoring systems
- Intelligent chemical dosing control panels
4. Solution Advantages
Our wastewater treatment solution is specifically engineered for energy storage battery manufacturing.
By integrating dual-stage fluoride removal technology with chelating resin deep-capture technology, the system efficiently removes complexed heavy metals and fluoride, ensuring treated water consistently exceeds national discharge requirements and minimizing environmental compliance risks.
We provide fully customized, non-standard equipment designed according to wastewater characteristics, plant layout, and future production expansion. Reinforced anti-corrosion structures, anti-clog flow channels, and optimized equipment dimensions ensure reliable operation under highly saline, corrosive, and fluctuating wastewater conditions.
All core mechanical equipment, electrical control systems, and water treatment components are certified to CE, UL, and ISO standards, meeting both European and North American safety requirements while supporting global project compliance and acceptance.
The system offers outstanding resistance to hydraulic and pollutant load fluctuations. Segregated wastewater collection effectively stabilizes influent quality, while anti-fouling membrane technology reduces maintenance frequency and equipment downtime by more than 70%.
Water reuse rates can exceed 90%, while valuable metals such as lithium and nickel can be recovered simultaneously, significantly reducing freshwater consumption and hazardous waste disposal costs.
The modular integrated design requires approximately 40% less installation space than conventional civil construction systems and allows flexible future capacity expansion. Fully automated intelligent operation continuously optimizes chemical dosing and system recirculation while minimizing manual intervention.
In addition, we provide comprehensive technical documentation to support environmental impact assessments (EIA), project acceptance, and discharge permit applications.
5. Project References & Supporting Documentation
We have successfully completed numerous wastewater treatment projects for energy storage battery manufacturers across Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hunan, and other regions, with extensive experience serving both LFP and NCM battery production facilities.
A flagship project is a 6 GWh/year Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Energy Storage Battery Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Project, with a wastewater treatment capacity of 550 m³/day.
The treated water is consistently recycled for electrode cleaning processes, achieving annual freshwater savings of approximately 180,000 m³ while reducing hazardous waste generation by 55%. The project successfully passed environmental acceptance inspections on the first submission.
Supporting documentation includes:
- CE, UL, and ISO certifications
- Proprietary wastewater treatment process patents
- Third-party water quality testing reports
- Environmental acceptance approval documents
- Reference contracts for similar benchmark projects
- Comprehensive operation and maintenance warranty agreements
6. Service Scope & Cooperation Process
We provide comprehensive EPC turnkey wastewater treatment services, including site investigation, wastewater characterization, pilot testing, customized process engineering, non-standard equipment manufacturing, civil works, installation, commissioning, environmental compliance support, annual operation and maintenance, system upgrades, and lifetime supply of consumables.
Customized services such as wastewater resource recovery and valuable metal recovery can also be provided according to customer requirements.
Standard Cooperation Process
- Site Survey & Water Sampling – Conduct on-site investigation, wastewater analysis, and issue a professional water quality assessment report.
- Customized Solution Design – Develop a tailored treatment process, detailed quotation, and 3D plant layout based on production conditions.
- Equipment Manufacturing & Construction – Begin customized equipment fabrication and on-site civil construction after contract confirmation.
- Installation & Commissioning – Complete installation, integrated system testing, and commissioning to ensure stable compliance.
- Project Acceptance & Training – Assist with environmental acceptance procedures and provide comprehensive operator training.
- Long-term Technical Support – Deliver on-site operation services, scheduled inspections, equipment maintenance, system upgrades, and lifetime technical support.
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