Process for treating waste water containing copper

A process for treating waste water containing copper and other particles from a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process, comprising:

• adjusting the pH of said waste water to between about 3 and 4;
• filtering said waste water through a membrane to separate said waste water into a first permeate and first solids;
• feeding said first permeate through an ion exchange column to remove copper from said first permeate;
• feeding said pH adjusted waste water to a first concentration tank before said filtering step;
• recycling said first solids from said filtering step to said first concentration tank, wherein a first sludge settles to the bottom of said first concentration tank;
• feeding said first sludge to a second concentration tank;
• washing said first sludge with a treated stream exiting said ion exchange column in said second concentration tank to form a slurry, wherein a second sludge settles to the bottom of said second concentration tank;
• feeding said slurry through a second filtration unit to separate said slurry into a second permeate and second solids;
• and
• feeding said second permeate along with said first permeate to said ion exchange column to remove copper from said first and second permeates, wherein said process is a continuous process.

A process for treating waste water containing copper and other particles from a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process, comprising:

• adjusting the pH of said waste water to below about 6;
• filtering said waste water through a membrane to separate said waste water into a first permeate and first solids;
• feeding said first permeate through anion exchange column to remove copper from said first permeate, wherein said ion exchange column contains a copper chelating ion exchange resin that interacts with said first permeate to remove soluble copper from said first permeate;
• feeding a regeneration stream through said ion exchange column to remove copper from said resin;
• and
• feeding said regeneration stream to an electrowinning unit to recover metallic copper from said regeneration stream.