Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have been focused on by many researchers to treat wastewater and recover energy or valuable chemicals from wastes. In BESs, metal ions play an important role in the conductivity of solution, reactors' internal resistance, power generation, chemical production and activity of microorganisms. Additionally, the metal ions are also involved in anodic or cathodic reaction processes directly or indirectly in BESs. This paper reviews the behavior of metal ions in BESs, including (1) increase of the conductivity of electrolyte and decrease of internal resistance, (2) transfer for desalination, (3) enhancement or inhibition of the biocatalysis in anode, (4) improvement of cathodic performance by metal ions through electron acceptance or catalysis in cathodic process and (5) behavior of metal ions on membranes. Moreover, the perspectives of BESs removing heavy metal ions in wastewater or solid waste are discussed to realize recovery, reduction and detoxification simultaneously. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.