Abstract: Thallium and its compounds are highly toxic. The discharge of thallium containing wastewater into the water environment can easily cause abnormal surface water quality. The sources, main characteristics and pollution status of thallium-containing wastewater from some lead-zinc smelting enterprises were summarized and analyzed. Various treatment technologies for thallium-containing wastewater were discussed, and thallium removal processes adopted by lead-zinc smelting enterprises were summarized. The results showed that thallium and its compounds volatilized into the flue gas in the high-temperature smelting process of the lead-zinc smelter, and entered the wastewater in the process of acid pickling of flue gas. The total thallium concentration in the wastewater from flue gas purification was relatively high, and the average value of total thallium in the wastewater of investigation enterprises was 0.76 mg/L. The treatment technologies of thallium-containing wastewater included oxidation method, precipitation method and adsorption method, etc. At present, the lead-zinc smelting enterprises mainly carried out modifications based on the original wastewater treatment process, and mostly adopted sedimentation methods such as sulfide precipitation, biological agent precipitation and electric flocculation to remove thallium. Prevention and control countermeasures for thallium containing wastewater in the lead-zinc smelting industry were proposed, such as strengthening source pollution prevention, strengthening management of thallium-containing wastewater discharge and promoting the research and development of thallium-containing wastewater treatment technologies.