In this investigation, reservoir sediment and municipal sewage sludge were sintered to form the artificial lightweight aggregates. The sintered aggregates were compared with the commercialized lightweight aggregates to in terms of potential alkali-silica reactivity and chemical stability based on analyses of their physical and chemical properties, leaching of heavy metal, alkali-silica reactivity, crystal phase species and microstructure. Experimental results demonstrated that the degree of sintering of an aggregate affected the chemical resistance more strongly than did its chemical composition. According to ASTM C289-94, all potential alkali-silica reactivity of artificial lightweight aggregates were in the harmless zone, while the potential reactivity of artificial lightweight aggregates made from reservoir sediment and municipal sewage sludge were much lower than those of traditional lightweight aggregates.