We are proud to offer water cremation to the families we serve. Water cremation—sometimes called alkaline hydrolysis, green cremation, Resomation, or Aquamation—is a process that has a much smaller carbon footprint than flame cremation. Read on for more information!
How Water Cremation is Similar to Flame Cremation
Water cremation and flame cremation have quite a lot in common!
In flame cremation, a person’s body is placed into a chamber where it is exposed to direct flame and heat, using natural gas. Over the course of several hours, the process reduces the person’s body to bone fragments. The bone fragments are then cooled and processed down to a grainy texture we recognize as “ashes.” Anything that isn’t bone fragments is vaporized and sent up the flue in the form of smoke.
In water cremation, a person’s body is placed into a chamber where it is exposed to water and a strong base, usually KOH. Over the course of several hours, the process reduces the person’s body to bone fragments. The bone fragments are then dried and processed down to a fine powdery texture we recognize as “ashes.” Anything that isn’t bone fragments is pH-neutralized and returned to the wastewater system as a sterile fluid with no traces of DNA.
How Water Cremation is Different than Flame Cremation
Even though these are very parallel processes, there are some significant differences that make water cremation a more environmentally-friendly option.
- Water cremation uses a fraction of the natural gas required for flame cremation. Because potassium hydroxide is doing most of the work, water cremation uses about 1/8 the natural gas than flame cremation.
- Water cremation does not release mercury from dental fillings into the atmosphere. Mercury is often present in “silver” amalgam dental fillings, but due to its low melting point, flame cremation vaporizes it and releases it into the atmosphere.
- Water cremation generally returns about 20% more cremated remains to the family. Because the water cremation process is self-contained, with nothing going up a smokestack, water cremation operators are able to recover more bone fragments from the chamber and give them back to each family.