As a by-product generated increasingly during potable water production, drinking water treatment residue (DWTR) recycling for environmental remediation can lead to a win-win situation. In this study, oxygen-limited heat treatment was applied to DWTR, attempting to tune the properties of DWTR for better recycling. The results showed that after the treatment, N-2 sorption capacity of DWTR was enhanced significantly: the specific surface area (SSA) and total pore volume (TPV) increased from 72.7 to 148-184 m(2) g(-1) and from 0.0746 to 0.189-0.201 cm(3) g(-1), respectively. The treatment also relatively increased the amorphous Al/Fe contents in DWTR although Al/Fe aging and transformation from hydroxides to oxides with high stability were observed. The retained organic matter (OM) was dominant in humin, with higher aromaticity and lower aliphaticity as the treatment temperature increased. Further analysis suggested that aromaticity increase induced higher SSA, the combined effect of OM aromaticity increase, OM loss (e.g. C in COO-), and metal oxides formation resulted in larger TPV, OM inhibited Al/Fe aging, while Al/Fe oxides formation in turn enhanced OM aromaticity. Additionally, the maximum Hg adsorption capacity of DWTR treated at 200-400 degrees C (estimated by Langmuir model) increased from 53.5 to 69.9-147 mg g(-1), and the lability of heavy metals (e.g. Cu) in DWTR tended to decrease after treatment. The overall results demonstrated that oxygen-limited heat treatment sequestrated C, making DWTR be a more reliable adsorbent. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.