what is the difference between cremation and alkaline hydrolysis

In cremation, you burn the body away, and what you’re left with is bone and bone fragment, which you then grind into a powder. Alkaline hydrolysis is a similar process, except you use liquid instead of flames, and you get 20 percent more remains, on average. So you’ll need a bigger urn.

Full Answer

What is the difference between Flame cremation and alkaline hydrolysis?

In flame cremation these harmless compounds, mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor, are released into the air. In alkaline hydrolysis, the harmless compounds formed include salts and amino acids, and are released with the water.

What is alkaline hydrolysis?

Alkaline hydrolysis is sometimes referred to as AH, flameless cremation, water cremation, green cremation, chemical cremation, liquid cremation, aquamation, biocremation™, or Resomation™. States and provinces that have approved the process use one of the following legal terms: alkaline hydrolysis, cremation, chemical disposition, or dissolution.

What is the difference between aquamation and traditional cremation?

After the Aquamation process families receive back around 20% more remains than traditional cremation, and the remains generally are a much finer powder that is white in color, not grey like the results of flame cremation. Aquamation, Water Cremation, or Alkaline Hydrolysis is a process often called the green alternative to flame cremation.

How is hydro cremation different from traditional cremation?

Traditional cremation uses high-temp combustion in a specialized chamber to reduce human remains to ash. Hydro cremation uses water, pressure, heat and a highly basic (pH 14) additive.

What is alkaline hydrolysis cremation?

Alkaline hydrolysis is a form of cremation that uses water and chemicals to break down the human body to its bare minimum. Salts, amino acids, peptides. Like flame-based cremation, it produces ash that can be taken home. Unlike flame-based cremation, it's illegal for use on human bodies in almost 30 states in America.

Is alkaline hydrolysis cheaper than cremation?

The Alkaline Hydrolysis process is more expensive than fire cremation, but cheaper than burial. The average cost for Alkaline Hydrolysis is around $3500, while the average cost for traditional burial is around $9,000 and the average cost for cremation is around $1,500.

Is aquamation the same as alkaline hydrolysis?

Aquamation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, is a water-based, sustainable method of final disposition. It is sometimes called liquid cremation. Aquamation has no direct emissions of harmful greenhouse gases or mercury and requires no burning of fossil fuels.

What's the difference between cremation and aquamation?

Whereas cremation creates emissions and uses significant energy in the process; aquamation uses a natural process called alkaline hydrolysis. In fact, Aquamation uses just 10% of the energy used during a cremation process and there are NO air emissions.

What happens to the bones after aquamation?

The heat, pressure and solution work together to break down the body, leaving only the bones. The body slowly dissolves, and the bones, once removed from the chamber, crushed into ash and returned to the family just like in a traditional cremation.

What happens to the water after water cremation?

0:283:02Bodies dissolve in water in this cremation alternative wanted in B.C.YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd put into an urn the effluent. Put down the drain aqua mayshen simply dissolves the body theMoreAnd put into an urn the effluent. Put down the drain aqua mayshen simply dissolves the body the alkaline water solution when heat actually replicates what's happening in the grave.

Where does the water go after aquamation?

What happens to the water in the Aquamation process? The water is returned to the ecosystem via the normal wastewater treatment facility, just as all funeral homes in the United States, Canada, and many other parts of the world do during the embalming process.

What happens to the water after alkaline hydrolysis?

In alkaline hydrolysis, the harmless compounds formed include salts and amino acids, and are released with the water. This effluent is far cleaner than most wastewater. The sterile liquid is released via a drain to the local wastewater treatment authority in accordance with federal, state or provincial, and local laws.

How is aquamation carried out?

With aquamation, or “alkaline hydrolysis”, the body of the deceased is immersed for three to four hours in a mixture of water and a strong alkali, such as potassium hydroxide, in a pressurised metal cylinder and heated to around 150C.

Which is more expensive cremation or aquamation?

Although you may be able to pay as little as $800 for a direct cremation, the average cremation cost is still $1,600. The cost of aquamation may be as low as $2,000, but may not reach much higher than $3,000.

Does aquamation leave remains?

Aquamation ashes are very similar to remains left after a standard cremation, so they can be treated like standard cremation ashes. However, aquamation remains are much lighter in color and in texture than classic cremated remains.

What is the green alternative to cremation?

aquamationAquamation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, resomation, liquid cremation, biocremation or water cremation, is a process in which the body of a deceased person is broken down by water and chemicals.

How much does an aquamation process cost?

between $2000 to $3000Aquamation can cost anything between $2000 to $3000. The cost of a flame cremation can range from $800 to over $3000. Aquamation produces 20-30% more ashes than ordinary flame cremation.

How much does a aquamation machine cost?

There are no restrictions on who can buy an aquamation machine, which at Bio-Response are priced from $60,000 (sized to accommodate a single pet) to $200,000 (able to hold bodies weighing 4,000 pounds in total).

In what states is alkaline hydrolysis legal?

19 States Now Permit Alkaline HydrolysisALABAMA 2017 statute added alkaline hydrolysis to definition of cremation.CALIFORNIA 2017; takes effect July 1, 2020.COLORADO 2011 legislation.FLORIDA 2010 legislation.GEORGIA 2012 legislation.IDAHO 2013 administrative regulation.More items...•

Is alkaline hydrolysis environmentally friendly?

There are several reasons people give for choosing alkaline hydrolysis, when available, instead of traditional flame-based cremation. The process is more environmentally friendly. It uses significantly less fuel and has an overall lower carbon footprint than both traditional cremation and burial.

Where Is Alkaline Hydrolysis Legal?

It is currently legal in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming.

What is the difference between alkaline hydrolysis and traditional cremation?

First, you’ll have to understand how traditional cremation works. Traditional cremation requires flames and extreme heat to reduce a body to ashes. Temperatures range from 1,400 to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit.

How much does alkaline hydrolysis cost?

In general, the prices are slightly higher than flame-based cremation but lower than traditional burial, and you’ll find services ranging from around $900 to $2,500.

How long does it take for an alkaline hydrolysis to occur?

However, instead of decomposing over months and years in a box in the ground, this process only takes around three to twelve hours.

What is the name of the process of reducing a body to bones?

Alkaline hydrolysis goes by many names, including “water cremation,” to help people understand the process. Instead of a flame-based process that reduces bodies down to bones, alkaline hydrolysis uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide and agitation.

How long do bones last?

As evidenced by archaeological discoveries, bones can last for thousands of years under the right conditions. Alkaline hydrolysis — also known by other terms, such as resomation or aquamation — merely speeds up that process through flameless cremation. Cremation by water reduces your human remains to bone fragments.

How much liquid can a body hold after death?

Then, the body will be placed in an alkaline hydrolysis machine, which can hold 100 gallons of liquid.

Does cremation use less energy?

It is still the reduction of the human body to its elemental bone self – same as burial or cremation is body to bones. But the by-product from it, is it uses very little energy. Um, we are looking at and seeing 75% less carbon footprint, we are looking at over, you know, 30% less energy input. So there is no emissions, as far as emissions into the atmosphere as there is with, with cremation.

Is alkaline hydrolysis the same as cremation?

It’s similar to cremation in that a body is placed into a chamber or a vault to be broken down into our mineral component – our most basic component – but instead of cremation being flame and fire, Alkaline Hydrolysis uses, uh, the extreme alkaline liquid base that ends up washing the body, and, which breaks it down.

What are the pros and cons of alkaline hydrolysis?

It has been promoted as a better, greener, and more cost-effective alternative to flame cremation and , of course, traditional burial.

Why is the name "resomation" used?

Note that the name “resomation” has been attached to body disposal through alkaline hydrolysis because it was first trademarked and used by Resomation Ltd. This company is one of the pioneers to develop further and commercialize water cremation.

What is the temperature of body disposal?

Body disposal through alkaline hydrolysis involves placing the intact dead body in a pressurized vessel that is then filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide. It is then heated to a temperature of around 160 degrees Celsius while under an elevated pressure to prevent boiling.

What temperature does bone fusion take place?

It is then heated to a temperature of around 160 degrees Celsius while under an elevated pressure to prevent boiling. The entire process effectively breaks down the body into its chemical component until all is left are the solid bone remains.

Where did water cremation originate?

A Quick Background on the Origins of Water Cremation. Historians trace the origin of water cremation to Amos Herbert Hobson, who patented a similar process in 1888 as a method of processing animal carcasses into fertilizers. In Europe during the 1990s, particularly during the outbreak of mad cow disease, it was the method used by health ...

Does incineration change bone color?

Note that incineration changes the color of the bones. Alkaline hydrolysis also does not require removing medical implants. • In addition, it leaves a non-toxic liquid solution comprised of peptides, amino acids, and sugar. It can be treated further and disposed without harm to the environment.

Is alkaline hydrolysis better than flame cremation?

The Cons: Disadvantages and Criticisms of Alkaline Hydrolysis. Despite the apparent promises of alkaline hydrolysis as a better alternative to flame cremation and entombment, it remains largely unpopular because of religious and legal resistance, as well as lack of public awareness.

Why is alkaline hydrolysis better than flame based cremation?

The process is more environmentally friendly . It uses significantly less fuel and has an overall lower carbon footprint than both traditional cremation and burial.

What is the process of alkaline hydrolysis?

Alkaline hydrolysis uses water, alkaline chemicals, heat, and sometimes pressure and agitation, to accelerat e natural decomposition, leaving bone fragments and a neutral liquid called effluent. The decomposition that occurs in alkaline hydrolysis is the same as that which occurs during burial, just sped up dramatically by the chemicals. The effluent is sterile, and contains salts, sugars, amino acids and peptides. There is no tissue and no DNA left after the process completes. This effluent is discharged with all other wastewater, and is a welcome addition to the water systems.

What is AH in cremation?

Alkaline hydrolysis is sometimes referred to as AH, flameless cremation, water cremation, green cremation, chemical cremation, liquid cremation, aquamation, biocremation™, or Resomation™. States and provinces that have approved the process use one of the following legal terms: alkaline hydrolysis, cremation, chemical disposition, or dissolution.

How many states are alkaline hydrolysis legal?

The pace of approval for human use is beginning to pick up and there are now fourteen states and two provinces where alkaline hydrolysis is legal, and several more have legislation pending. In those states and provinces where it is legal, there are approximately thirty practitioners.

How many gallons of liquid is in an alkaline hydrolysis machine?

An alkaline hydrolysis machine is comprised of a single chamber which is air- and watertight. The chamber holds approximately one hundred gallons of liquid. The deceased is placed into the single chamber which is then sealed.

What are the compounds released from flame cremation?

In flame cremation these harmless compounds, mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor, are released into the air. In alkaline hydrolysis, the harmless compounds formed include salts and amino acids, and are released with the water.

When was alkaline hydrolysis invented?

Alkaline hydrolysis was developed and patented in 1888 by Amos Herbert Hanson, a farmer who was looking for a way to make fertilizer from animal carcasses. In 1993, the first commercial system was installed at Albany Medical College to dispose of human cadavers.

What is the process of hydro cremation?

Hydro cremation was originally developed to safely dispose of animal remains after exposure to things like Mad Cow Disease. The technology has been used all over the world in laboratories for decades. With this less-than-pleasant origin, bio-cremation, or resomation as it is also known, has faced an uphill battle to gain popular acceptance.

What are the benefits of hydro cremation vs. traditional cremation?

Most significantly, it is an eco-friendly alternative to being embalmed and buried. The following benefits are listed by Village Memorial:

How do I find a service provider?

Misunderstanding about how alkaline hydrolysis cremation works is prevalent. Therefore, currently the practice is not widely available. Legal precedents and popular acceptance of new customs surrounding death are often very slow to change.

How much does it cost?

Prices will vary significantly from provider to provider, so be sure to inquire locally if you intend to go this route. The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota estimates that:

Is it regulated?

According to the Cremation Association of North America and the National Funeral Directors Association, at this point in time, alkaline hydrolysis is regulated on a state level. In the future, with wider acceptance, this may change. Currently with only eight states in the union using hydro cremation, there hasn’t been a call for federal regulation.

What is the difference between hydro cremation and cremation?

Where traditional cremation produces a coarse grayish material, hydro cremation leaves a pure white powder.

How much more bone ash is produced in a hydro cremation?

An accepted method of estimating volume is to figure on approximately one cubic inch of ash per pound of body weight for a traditional cremation. For hydro cremation factor up by about 20 percent .

Aquamation vs Traditional Cremation

Alkaline Hydrolysis is advertised as being 90% more environmentally friendly than cremation. After the Aquamation process families receive back around 20% more remains than traditional cremation, and the remains generally are a much finer powder that is white in color, not grey like the results of flame cremation.

But what if Archbishop Tutu had access to all green funeral alternatives?

At Return Home, we would like to believe that had Archbishop Tutu had knowledge of and access to Terramation, he would have considered making his last act on earth one that physically gives back and nourishes the land.