A new method is provided for the post-deposition treatment of copper lines. A damascene copper line pattern whereby a TaN barrier layer and a seed layer have been provided is polished. Under the first embodiment of the invention, the deposited copper is polished (Cu CMP), the surface of the wafer is rinsed using a first High Flow DI rinse that contains a TBA inhibitor. The TaN CMP is performed immediately following the first High Flow DI rinse. A second High Flow DI rinse is applied using DI water that contains TBA inhibitor. The required following rinse step is executed immediately after the second High Flow DI rinse has been completed. Under the second embodiment of the invention, the process of CMP has been divided in two distinct steps where the first step is aimed at corrosion elimination and the second step is aimed at elimination of mechanical damage to the polished copper. The processing conditions for the second processing step have been extended and optimized, thereby using a second belt of a CMP apparatus.