Electrolytic baths used in electroplating to make coatings or anodizing in metal parts are exposed to metal ions contamination (Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺ or their complexes in solution). Particularly, aluminum anodizing baths could have copper ions contamination that provoke spots and stain in the finished surface .The contamination is generated when the electrical copper connections partially lixiviates due to acid vapors generated in the process. It makes necessary to replace the bath in short periods of times and reprocess the imperfect pieces. These facts generate important economic losses.

Through the years the electrochemical technologies have been used in the treatment of contaminated effluents with metal ions, the treatment with electrochemical systems involves a challenge due to the often wide quantity of solution to be treated. The present work shows the preliminary results of copper removal from a 13% sulfuric acid bath used for aluminum anodizing, a lead cathode and 2024 aluminum pieces as anode. The experiments were carried out with a spent bath sample (with suspended solids). The concentration of copper in the solution was determinate by stripping voltammetry, as high as 200 ppm. Using XRD and ICP-MS it was found that the solids contained complexes of Cu with Pb, which means that the cathode (lead) used in the anodizing process dissolves in presence of Cu²⁺. The potential interval in which it is possible to carry out the deposition of copper was identified by cyclic voltammetry. The cell potential range in which it is possible to deposit copper (considering a Cu electrode as cathode and Pb electrode as anode) was calculated from the curves obtained in linear sweep voltammetry. The obtained cell potentials were then tested in a two electrodes cell configuration, and the best results were obtained at 1.3V. The copper removal achieved was 65% in 3 hours of operation.