Water Cremation Services?
What are water cremations, and are they the right choice for your or your lost loved one? Water cremation services are a new trend hitting towns all around the United States.
Cremation services in East Moline, IL have been popular for a very long time, but have been even more so in recent years for many reasons including price, ease, flexibility, and environmental benefits. But now there is a new kind of cremation on the market that may offer all those benefits and more: water cremation.
Water cremation, or alkaline hydrolysis, puts an interesting and unique spin on traditional cremation procedures, and might even be better for the environment as it simulates a more natural tissue and bone decay process than traditional flame-based methods. Water cremations do not involve any burning, so no harmful gases or pollutants are released into the air.
How does it work? To begin, the body is placed in a steel chamber for the water cremation process. The chamber is then filled with an alkaline solution made up of 95% water and 5% potassium hydroxide and raised to a very high pressure to prevent boiling. The chamber, and the body in the solution, is then heated to around 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an extended period of time, from 4 to 16 hours. 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. However, water cremated remains are much lighter in color and in texture than classic cremated remains. Cremated remains made from flames are often darker and denser from the various combustion reactions that occur when the body is heated under extreme temperatures.
While water cremation may seem strange, it’s actually just a more sped up version of what would happen when a body decays naturally. Interestingly, the process was originally developed as a way to process animal carcasses into plant food back in 1888. In 2007, a biochemist from Scotland founded a company to make the machines necessary to use the method to process human remains. 2007 wasn’t that long ago, so water cremations are still pretty new. The method is so new, in fact, that it’s currently only legal as a means of final disposition in 16 states, including Oregon, Illinois, Colorado, Nevada, California, and more. Laws on water cremation are currently pending in states like New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Though out of the box, water cremations might be the way of the future. Would you consider a water cremation for yourself or for a lost loved one? Whether or not you would, you can still turn to Trimble Funeral Home & Crematory for your cremation needs.
Trimble Funeral Home & Crematory offers a range of East Moline, IL cremation services designed to help you and your loved ones in a time of loss. We have years of industry experience ready to put at your disposal. Please give us a call today to learn more about up and coming cremation trends, our services, or what we can do for you in your time of loss.
