Did you know you can cremate a body with water?  It’s true!  It is known by so many names..  Water Cremation, Aquamation, Bio Cremation, Green Cremation, Alkaline Hydrolysis.

Water cremation is a process where instead of using fire to reduce the body to ash, water is the element.  It is a natural and gentle alternative to flame cremation.  The body is placed in a stainless steel vessel, a solution of 95% water and 5% alkali salts are added.  The solution is heated and then gently circulated.  At the end of the water process, the bones and any inorganic materials (such as implants, tooth fillings) are left behind in the tray.  The bones are then processed into powder (as like flame cremation) and can be returned to the family.

What are the differences between water and flame?

There are some similarities between water cremation and flame cremation.  They are both comparable in cost.  The bodies are usually placed in a chamber (or vessel) in the same fashion.  The end results are similar, you receive cremains/ashes back.

I would say where you will find the biggest differences, are environmental impact and gentility of the process.  Water cremation speeds up the natural decomposition process, like what occurs to a body buried in the ground.

“If you’re concerned about gas emissions, the choice [for water cremation] is pretty obvious,” says California Assemblyman Todd Gloria.  “I plan to be cremated…It would be poetic if I could take advantage of my own bill.” 

Water cremation operates between 200º-300º, whereas flame cremation is 1600º-1800º.  Flame cremation emits over 500lbs of CO2 and can emit chemicals (such as mercury) into the atmosphere;  Where water cremation has no emissions from the equipment, it burns no fossil fuels, and things like chemo and radiation are neutralized.  You do not have to remove any implants pre-water cremation and implants come back shiny and sterile.  The solution (effluent) can be returned to the land as nutrients, or it can be sent down the drain.

Let’s not get excited folks.. “This is the part of the process that seems to make people the most uncomfortable, but what is released is essentially the same materials that are released as smoke when a body is cremated. In addition to that, many of these materials are washed down the drain during the embalming process in a traditional burial.”  -Sam Ward of Frazer Consultants 

Why most Americans today are choosing cremation?  I believe cremation has become more popular for many reasons.  I have heard everything from burials not being financially affordable anymore, people wanting to have more creativity with their ashes, to environmental enrichment.  -Which inspires me to write another blog post…