Burial and cremation are perhaps the most common ways of handling the remains of those who have passed away. However, “aquamation” or water cremation is a new method that many people worldwide have been using as it is more environmentally friendly.
While cremation is still considered to be a good alternative to traditional burials, it still requires a gigantic quantity of energy and produces a high amount of carbon emissions every year.
Lately, an alternative to these two options has started to become popular. It doesn’t require land space, and the carbon dioxide it creates is less than those that would be produced as a result of a burial or a cremation. It is known as “aquamation,” “resomation,” “alkaline hydrolysis,” “liquid cremation,” or “water cremation” if you want to keep things simple.
It’s important to note that “aquamation” and “resomation” are brand names and, therefore, refer to two different techniques utilized during the process. While both have the same result, aquamation requires about 14 hours, while resomation only takes 4.
Water cremation consists in storing the body in a water chamber. Then, the vessel is filled with a mix of hot water and potassium (or sodium hydroxide). Then, the temperature inside the chamber reaches over 160ºC (320ºF).
However, the pressure from the vessel allows the water to stay still and not boil. The combination of chemicals plus the heat starts dissolving the body until only the bones are left, which end up being soft, brittle, and quite white.
The protocol for the bones is to be turned into powder and returned to the deceased’s relatives, who can then keep them as they would keep their ashes.
People can decide what to do with the remains. If there is anything else inside the body, such as prosthetics or implants, then the whole process will leave them as leftovers and would be sterilized during the liquid cremation process.
Although alkaline hydrolysis is a good alternative to being cremated, you can also consider other options. “Recomposition” is another alternative, which is the trademark of a company known as Recompose. This process consists in turning your remains into the soil after you die. Other methods also include turning your body into a diamond or “diamond burial.”
There are different ways for body disposition. Although a long time will pass before burials are left behind, now we have a few other alternatives for the final disposition.
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