Water Cremation Explained: How Alkaline Hydrolysis Works

For most of the past century, families choosing what happens to a loved one’s body have had two main options: burial or flame cremation. A third option has become more widely available in recent years. It goes by several names, including water cremation, aquamation, flameless cremation and, in technical and legal language, alkaline hydrolysis.

The process uses water, heat and an alkaline solution rather than fire. The end result for the family is similar to flame cremation: remains returned in an urn. The path to that result is different, and so are some of the environmental and practical details. This article explains how water cremation works, how it compares with other options, what families receive afterward and how it is treated in North Carolina.

What this covers

• What Water Cremation Is

• How the Process Works, Step by Step

• What Families Receive Afterward

• How It Compares With Flame Cremation

• How It Compares With Burial

• The Environmental Case

• Water Cremation in North Carolina

• Memorial Choices After Water Cremation

• Cost and What Is Usually Included

• What Most Explanations Leave Out

• Short Answers on Water Cremation

What Water Cremation Is

Water cremation is a process that speeds up the natural breakdown of the body. In the ground, soil, water and microorganisms slowly return a body to its basic components over many years. Alkaline hydrolysis uses a mix of water and an alkaline substance, such as potassium hydroxide, together with heat and gentle circulation, to reach a similar result in a matter of hours.

The technology was first developed for other purposes and has been used in medical and research settings for decades. Its use for human remains in funeral service is newer, and availability depends on state law.

The names can be confusing. Aquamation is a common consumer term. Water cremation and flameless cremation describe the same idea in plain language. Alkaline hydrolysis is the scientific and legal name, and it is the term most often found in statutes and regulations. Families may hear all four in the same conversation with a provider, and they all refer to the same process.

The method is sometimes described as gentle because it relies on water and gradual chemical breakdown rather than intense heat and flame. That description resonates with many families, particularly those who find the idea of fire difficult. For others, the environmental profile is the deciding factor. Both reasons are common, and neither is required to choose it.

How the Process Works, Step by Step

The process is carried out in a sealed stainless steel vessel. Although equipment varies, the steps are broadly similar:

1. The body is placed in the vessel, typically in a biodegradable covering

2. The vessel is filled with a solution of water and an alkaline substance

3. The solution is heated and gently circulated for several hours

4. Soft tissues break down into a sterile liquid of amino acids, salts, sugars and other simple compounds

5. The remaining bone material is rinsed, dried and processed into a fine powder

6. The powder is placed in an urn and returned to the family

Medical implants, such as joint replacements, remain intact and can often be recycled. Pacemakers, which must be removed before flame cremation, are also handled according to the provider’s procedures.

What Families Receive Afterward

Families receive the processed bone remains, similar in appearance to flame cremation remains but often lighter in color and finer in texture. Providers commonly note that water cremation returns a larger volume of remains than flame cremation, since less bone material is lost in the process. One North Carolina provider describes the yield as approximately 20 percent more remains than flame cremation.

The remains can be kept in an urn, scattered where permitted, buried in a cemetery plot or placed in a columbarium, just as with flame cremation remains.

How It Compares With Flame Cremation

Water cremation and flame cremation lead to the same kind of result but differ in method and environmental footprint.

Factor	Flame cremation	Water cremation
Method	High heat in a combustion chamber	Water, alkali and heat in a sealed vessel
Emissions to the air	Combustion gases	No direct combustion emissions
Energy use	Higher	Lower, according to providers
Remains returned	Processed bone	Processed bone, often a larger volume
Availability	Widely available	Fewer providers, depending on the state

Both require the same legal paperwork before they can proceed, including a death certificate and the required authorization forms.

How It Compares With Burial

Burial keeps the body intact in a cemetery plot, often with embalming, a casket and a vault or grave liner. Green burial skips embalming and uses a biodegradable container. Water cremation, by contrast, results in remains that do not require a full burial plot, though they can be buried if the family wishes.

Factor	Traditional burial	Green burial	Water cremation
Embalming	Common	Not used	Not needed
Cemetery plot	Required	Required, in a permitting cemetery	Optional
Container	Casket, often with vault	Shroud or simple wood casket	Biodegradable covering during the process, urn afterward
Land use	Full plot	Full plot, often in conservation land	Minimal

The Environmental Case

Interest in water cremation often comes from environmental concerns. Providers point out that it avoids the combustion emissions of flame cremation and uses less energy. Compared with conventional burial, it avoids embalming chemicals, metal caskets and concrete vaults.

The liquid produced by the process is sterile and, after processing, is handled through wastewater systems under applicable regulations. Families who care about environmental impact often compare water cremation with green burial, which is another low-impact option. The two can even be combined, since remains from water cremation can be buried in a natural setting where cemetery rules allow.

Water Cremation in North Carolina

North Carolina addresses hydrolysis of human remains within Article 13F of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, the same article that governs cremation. That means water cremation in the state operates within a legal framework similar to flame cremation, including rules on authorization and timing.

Families in North Carolina should expect the same general paperwork as for cremation: a death certificate, an authorization signed by the legal next of kin and, where required, authorization from a medical examiner. North Carolina’s cremation statute, G.S. 90-210.129, bars cremation within 24 hours of death except in specific cases involving infectious disease with a waiver, and families can ask providers how the timing rules apply to hydrolysis as well.

Memorial Choices After Water Cremation

Because the remains are returned in an urn, families have the same memorial flexibility as with flame cremation. A memorial service can be held before or after the process, with or without the remains present. Some families scatter remains in a meaningful place, where permitted. Others keep the urn at home, bury it in a family plot or place it in a columbarium niche.

Many families hold a gathering at a place that mattered to the person, such as a park, a family home or a place of worship, and choose the timing that allows relatives to travel.

Cost and What Is Usually Included

Pricing varies by provider. A water cremation package commonly includes transportation of the deceased, the process itself, completion of paperwork, death certificates and the return of remains in a basic urn. Some providers include obituary publication or a family viewing. Others list those separately. Urn upgrades, additional death certificates and transportation from outside the provider’s local area are common add-ons that can change the total.

Under the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule, funeral providers must give families itemized price information, including by phone on request. Comparing providers line by line makes it easier to see what each package includes.

What Most Explanations Leave Out

Many explanations focus on the science. They often leave out the practical question of availability, since not every funeral home offers water cremation and not every state allows it. Families may need to find a specific provider and arrange transportation.

They also rarely mention how similar the paperwork is to flame cremation. Water cremation follows the same basic steps for authorization and documentation.

Finally, explanations tend to skip the memorial side. The choice of water cremation does not limit how a family remembers someone. It simply changes the method of disposition.

Short Answers on Water Cremation

Families researching water cremation services in North Carolina can use the sections above to prepare questions for providers. Endswell Funeral Home, which operates its Meadowlands Drive location in Hillsborough with a satellite office in Durham, is one of the North Carolina providers offering aquamation, with a package that includes local transportation, death certificates and return of remains in an eco-friendly urn.

Is water cremation the same as aquamation?

Yes. Aquamation, water cremation, flameless cremation and alkaline hydrolysis all describe the same process.

Do families receive remains?

Yes. Processed bone remains are returned in an urn, often in a larger volume than flame cremation.

Is water cremation allowed in North Carolina?

North Carolina addresses hydrolysis of human remains in Article 13F of Chapter 90 of its General Statutes.

Can a memorial service still be held?

Yes. Families can hold a service before or after, with or without the remains present.

Water cremation offers families a third path alongside burial and flame cremation. It combines the practical flexibility of cremation with a gentler environmental footprint, and it follows much of the same legal and memorial process families already know.