The present study was carried out for evaluating the retention behavior of sanitary sewage in relation to cadmium and cobalt ions in an ascendant continuous-flow reactor. It was found that the studied sludge presented a high assimilation of the metals, probably due to the presence of anionic groups, which favors adsorption and complexation processes. Thermal analyses of the samples showed a shift in the thermal decomposition of the ‘in natura’ sludge, when compared with those of the samples spiked with the metals, confirming the possibility of interactions between the heavy metals and the anionic groups present in the sludge.