It’s a whir and a whoosh for green funeral biz

Smiths Falls business offers ‘water-based cremations’

There’s something in the water in Smiths Falls, Ont.

Home to one of the country’s first so-called water-based cremation services, Dale Hilton is breathing new life into the town’s death business.

After two years processing animal remains with the system, Hilton obtained a licence last May to expand the green cremations to human clients.

“It’s like sitting in a bathtub,” Hilton said of the disposal process.

The body stands in a pressurized tube filled to the rib cage with a solution of water, potash and salt for up to two hours as it dissolves down to the skeleton.

The machine sounds much like a dishwasher, he said, and uses about as much electricity.

And like a dishwasher the liquid eventually goes down the drain to the public sewer system.

The odourless liquid looks like a weak cup of coffee, he said, and goes through two sterilizing cycles and two filtration systems before it trickles down the drain to mingle with the rest of the unit’s waste water.

“By the time it mixes with other products in the sewage pipes before it reaches the sewage plant, you wouldn’t even notice that it was in the sewage,” he said.

Though initially concerned with the unfamiliar process, the Town of Smiths Falls has put its mind at ease after research and consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, said Troy Dunlop, the director of public works and utilities. “We have to keep an eye on all of our local industries, certainly not just this one,” he said.

But since Hilton began processing human remains Dunlop said there haven’t been any red flags in the town’s regular water testing for the site. “It’s business as usual for us,” he said.

Hilton’s adult life has been all about death since he took a job at his parents’ funeral home right out of school. After more than 25 years in the business, he noticed a trend toward more eco-friendly caskets in the last five years, which spurred him to seek out other green alternatives for his clients.

“I think it’s needed in this country. We have a beautiful country that we live in. Most people are wanting to keep it as clean as we can,” he said.

Saskatchewan has allowed the same method since 2012, and Quebec allows a similar method.

Hilton has cremated about 200 bodies at Aquagreen Dispositions, at a cost of about $520 per body. Traditional cremation costs $600 to $1,000.