Eco send-off with water cremation
A METHOD to allow bodies to be disposed of through “water cremation” – and then poured down the drain – is to be made available in the UK.
The first licence has been granted by Yorkshire Water to Resomation Ltd.
A machine will be in place “by Christmas”, according to founder and biochemist Sandy Sullivan.
While some may see it as a rather macabre send off for loved ones, it is billed as better for the environment and “gentler” than a standard cremation.
Resomation uses a heated solution of five per cent potassium hydroxide and 95 per cent water to “cremate” a body in hours through “alkaline hydrolysis”.
It speeds up decomposition and breaks down the cells in the body.
All that remains are some bones, which are ground into a fine powder for relatives to scatter like ashes, and a sterile liquid that is purified. No DNA remains.
The water is then let back into the water cycle and into rivers.
It is thought to be six times better for the environment than conventional cremation, which releases 400kg of CO2 into the atmosphere per body.
Mr Sullivan explained: “What I say to those who think we are putting people down the drain, is that we are all made of elements.
“Our bodies take elements from the earth, you have been made and live life, and when you die you give them back.
“You’ve borrowed them, they don’t belong to you. The water is purified and it goes back into the river and back around the water cycle. It is sterile and pure.
“I thought people would choose it because of environmental factors, but we found 80 per cent chose it because they see it as gentler than flame.
“Water is seen as more favourable. It has a lot of symbolism, such as baptism, and every religion has water as a central position. Using it at the end of life is a natural thing.”
It is currently legal in at least 30 states in the US, and the first machines will be in place in the Netherlands by next month.
In England all that is needed is permission from local water companies to dispose of the waste.
‘It has symbolism
...like baptism’