What we're treating
Automotive and metals effluent is mostly not biodegradable. Oils and emulsions, heavy metals, and surface-treatment chemistry from phosphating, anodising and plating lines have to come out physically and chemically before biology is worth applying at all, and on many of these sites the water itself is worth recovering.
We build these plants front to back: coagulation, lamella separation and dissolved air flotation to strip oil and metals, membranes where reuse-grade water is the target, and vacuum distillation to close the loop to zero liquid discharge. This is currently the fastest-moving part of the reference list: the lithium-ion battery and EV supply chain in Hungary accounts for most of the recent work, including BYD at Szeged and Eve Power at Debrecen, both 2025. The largest plant in the sector, BAMO Technology Hungary at Ács, runs 48,000 m³/day.
- Load pattern
- Shift-driven, with batch dumps from surface-treatment lines
- Binding limits
- Heavy metals, hydrocarbons and pH, often with a discharge ban on certain lines
- Hard case
- Stable emulsions, and chelated metals that resist ordinary precipitation
- Opportunity
- Deionised make-up water recovered on site instead of bought in
Case studies
All case studies →26 plants delivered in this sector across 2 countries, 70,906 m³/day of combined capacity. These are written up with their commissioning data.
Technologies applied in this sector
Counted from UTB's own delivered reference list: how often each process appears across the 26 plants in this sector.
Continuously fed SBR carrying nitrification, denitrification and bio-P in one basin.
More on CYCLATOR →Coagulation, flocculation and settling ahead of biology.
Thermal concentration of brine and process water.
Flotation of fats, oils and suspended solids.
The stream closed out with no effluent leaving site.
Inclined-plate settling for fine solids and metal hydroxides.
Membrane separation of solids and macromolecules ahead of reuse.
Desalination and polishing to reuse-grade water.
Reference plants
The largest 8 of 26 plants delivered in this sector.
| Plant | Location | Capacity | Year | Process |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAMO Technology Hungary | Ács, Hungary | 48,000 m³/day | 2024 | Physico-chemical · DAF · filtration |
| BYD Auto Hungary Kft. | Szeged, Hungary | 3,000 m³/day | 2025 | CYCLATOR · pH adjustment · Physico-chemical · MBBR |
| Suzuki | Esztergom, Hungary | 1,300 m³/day | 2006 | HYBRATOR |
| DOOSAN, Phase 2 | Tatabánya, Hungary | 1,024 m³/day | 2023 | Physico-chemical · Vacuum distillation · ZLD |
| Apollo Tyres Kft. | Gyöngyöshalász, Hungary | 720 m³/day | 2017 | UF · RO · Vacuum distillation · ZLD |
| DOOSAN, Phase 1 | Tatabánya, Hungary | 501 m³/day | 2020 | Physico-chemical · Vacuum distillation · ZLD |
| Eve Power Hungary Kft. | Debrecen, Hungary | 245 m³/day | 2025 | lamella sep · DAF · MBR · Physico-chemical · UF |
| Eagle Ottawa Hungary Kft. | Szolnok, Hungary | 100 m³/day | 2004 | Physico-chemical · lamella sep |
How we deliver it
Single-contract delivery from process design to handover.
EngineeringProcess, mechanical, electrical and control design.
Process & equipment supplyDecanters, aerators and process packages as supply-only scope.
Pilot trialsOn-site pilots on your real effluent before the plant is sized.
ConsultancyAudits, debottlenecking and permit support on existing assets.
R&DLaboratory and development work behind our own processes.
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