Aquamation (Water Cremation): How It Works and Where It Is Legal
The short answer: aquamation, also called water cremation or alkaline hydrolysis, uses warm water and an alkaline solution instead of fire to reduce a body to bone. The bones are then dried and processed into fine remains, just as they are after flame cremation, and returned to the family in an urn. Everything you might do with ashes, keeping them, scattering them, burying them, you can do with these. According to the Cremation Association of North America, it is legal in 26 US states as of March 2026, but legal does not mean available: in some of those states no provider offers it yet. If it matters to you, ask funeral homes directly, and ask early.
If you are still deciding between cremation and burial in general, start with cremation vs. burial. If you want to know what happens on the day of a flame cremation, what happens at a cremation walks through it. This page is only about the water version.
What Happens, Step by Step
The person who has died is placed in a stainless steel chamber, usually in a simple shroud made of natural fibre rather than a casket. The chamber is sealed and filled with water and an alkaline solution, mostly potassium hydroxide, sometimes with sodium hydroxide. The mix is set by the person's body weight.
The water is then heated and circulated. CANA describes temperatures between roughly 199 and 302 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the machine, and a process that takes anywhere from three to sixteen hours. Lower-temperature systems take longer; higher-temperature, pressurised ones are faster.
At the end, the soft tissue has broken down into a sterile liquid of water, salts, amino acids and sugars, which goes to the wastewater system like other treated water. What is left in the chamber is the skeleton. The bones are rinsed, dried, and processed into a fine powder, which is what the family receives.
Medical implants such as joint replacements come out clean and are usually recycled. Pacemakers and similar devices are removed beforehand, as they would be for flame cremation.
What You Get Back
Two things surprise families.
There are more remains. CANA puts it at about 32 per cent more than after a flame cremation, because none of the bone is lost to the heat. If you have already chosen an urn, check its volume with the provider; you may need a slightly larger one.
They look different. The remains are usually white or very pale and finer, more like sand or flour than the grey, gritty ashes most people picture.
Otherwise, they are treated exactly like ashes from a flame cremation. You can scatter them, keep them, bury them, or divide them, and the same rules on scattering apply.
Why Families Choose It
Environmental reasons. This is the most common one. CANA says the process uses significantly less fuel and has a lower carbon footprint than both flame cremation and conventional burial. There is no smoke stack and no mercury from dental fillings released into the air.
It feels gentler to some people. Some families simply prefer the idea of water to the idea of fire. That is a real reason, not a sentimental one. You are allowed to choose how you feel about it.
A wish they expressed. Water cremation has become better known in the last decade, and more people have left clear instructions asking for it. If the person who died wrote it down, that usually settles the question.
Faith. Religious views vary. Some traditions that discourage flame cremation have not ruled on water cremation; others treat it the same way. If faith matters in your family, ask your own religious leader rather than relying on what a provider says.
Where It Is Legal
CANA's list, dated March 2026, gives 26 states where alkaline hydrolysis for human remains is legal:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Three things to know about that list:
- Other sources disagree at the edges. Different guides list between 26 and 29 states, mostly because states pass laws, write regulations, and open providers at different times. Treat any list, including this one, as a starting point and check with your state's funeral board or a local funeral home.
- Legal is not the same as offered. CANA itself notes that legalisation "does not mean it is publicly or readily available." Several of the states above have very few providers, and some may have none.
- Out-of-state is often possible. Where there is no local provider, a funeral home may be able to transport the person to a facility in another state where the process is legal, and return the remains to you. This adds time and cost, so ask for both.
What It Costs
Prices vary too much by region and provider to give a useful number here. As a rule, water cremation is usually priced somewhat above a direct flame cremation from the same area, and well below a traditional burial. The fair comparison is like with like: a direct water cremation against a direct flame cremation, each without a viewing or service.
Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home must give you an itemised price list and let you buy only what you want. If a provider will not tell you the price over the phone, or bundles in things you did not ask for, here is how to push back. If money is the deciding factor, what to do if you cannot afford a funeral covers the cheapest routes, which are often still flame cremation.
What to Ask a Provider
When you call, these questions will tell you most of what you need to know:
- Do you perform alkaline hydrolysis yourselves, or do you send the person to another facility? If elsewhere, where, and how long does transport take?
- How long until the remains are returned to us?
- What is the total price for a direct water cremation, including transport, the permit, and the death certificates?
- Can we be present, or hold a short goodbye beforehand?
- Will the remains fit the urn we have chosen?
Timing is the practical catch. Because fewer facilities exist, and some processes run for many hours, it can take longer to get the remains back than with a local flame cremation. If you are planning a memorial service with the urn present, build in a margin.
Planning a Service Around It
Water cremation does not change what kind of goodbye you can have. You can hold a viewing beforehand if the provider allows it, a memorial service afterwards with the urn present, or a scattering later. Many families who choose aquamation for environmental reasons also like the idea of a simpler gathering, but that is a choice, not a requirement. How to plan a funeral covers the decisions in order.
If You Are Planning Your Own
If you would like this for yourself, the most helpful thing you can do is write it down and tell people. Name the method, say whether out-of-state transport is acceptable if no local provider exists, and say what you would like done with the remains. Families often feel unsure choosing something unfamiliar on someone else's behalf. A clear instruction removes that doubt.
Quick Answers
Is aquamation the same as water cremation? Yes. Aquamation, water cremation, flameless cremation, bio-cremation and alkaline hydrolysis all describe the same process. Different providers use different names.
Do you get ashes back after aquamation? Yes. The bones are dried and processed into fine, pale remains, about 32 per cent more by volume than after flame cremation, according to CANA.
Is water cremation legal in every state? No. CANA lists 26 states as of March 2026. Even where it is legal, there may be no local provider, so check before you plan around it.
Is aquamation more expensive than cremation? Usually somewhat more than a direct flame cremation in the same area, and less than a traditional burial. Ask for itemised prices to compare.
Can you have a funeral with aquamation? Yes. A viewing before, a service after with the urn present, or both. The method changes nothing about the gathering.
Whatever form the goodbye takes, the stories stay. GetMemorial gives you a permanent place for their photos, tributes and memories, where family near and far can add their own. Start an online memorial whenever you are ready.
