Pioneering work on capacitive deionization (CDI) was first done by Caudle in 1966 and later by Johnson and Newman in the early 70′s. This work focused mainly on the development of stable carbon electrodes.

Biosource Inc made a breakthrough in 2000. By placing ion exchange membranes in front of the carbon electrodes, desalination performance was significantly improved.

In 2004, Unilever scientists began evaluating CDI as a water softener for domestic appliances. The following year Unilever and Biosource began to jointly develop this technology, which led to the founding of Voltea Ltd in 2006.

Voltea acquired Biosource in 2008 consolidating all relevant patents into one legal entity. Initial investment for Voltea came from Unilever Ventures. Pentair, a US water technology company, invested in Voltea in 2009.

Voltea is headquartered in London. The operations side of the business is based in Leiden, the Netherlands. Voltea has over 20 employees.