Making bricks using water treatment residual (WTR) is one of the feasible methods for municipal sludge recycling and reclamation. The preparation conditions of permeable bricks using WTR and clay, as a binding material, were investigated and the adsorption performance for contaminants in water by the sintered bricks was tested. The optimal preparing conditions were as follows: the proportions of the WTR, clay and quartz sand were 40%, 30%, and 30%, respectively; the unfired bricks were pressed at a pressure of 30 Mpa; sintering temperature was 1100°C and that temperature was kept for 3h. The compressive strength and the water permeability coefficient of the finished bricks were 32.7Mpa and 1.06×10_-2cm/s, both of which met the demand of the permeable brick standard. The proportion of the WTR can be adjusted to about 45%. The particle size of the quartz sand was controlled at 0.8-1.2 mm, and about 0.3mm and 0.125mm for WTR and clay respectively. The adsorption tests of contaminants in water by the sintered brick showed when the initial concentrations of COD, NH₄₊-N and TP were 158mg/L, 6.17mg/L and 10.86 mg/L in water solution, the removal rates of COD, NH₄₊-N and TP were 25%, 30% and 57% after 60h, respectively,