Aquamation is a fairly new technology that is also known as “water cremation”, “flameless cremation”, or “liquid cremation”. It is used to reduce both human or pet remains into what is referred to as “ashes”.
Aquamation uses a chemical process known as Alkaline Hydrolysis to reduce organic matter in a pet’s body to basic components leaving only bone fragments behind.
In Otis’ pet aftercare services, we use aquamation as an alternative to flame cremation. The pet’s body is placed in a large chamber then water treated with alkali is added. Alkali is soluble salt obtained from plants. It consists largely of potassium or sodium carbonate.
Then heat and pressure are applied and the remains are reduced to their base elements. The process takes a few hours. It mimics the natural decomposition that occurs when a body is buried in the ground, but takes hours not years.
There are two levels of aquamation service:
- Communal Aquamation: A pet is aqumated with other pets in the same chamber and the mixed ashes are scattered in a garden.
- Partitioned Aquamation: Your pet’s body is placed in a private partition inside the chamber. The resulting ashes are fully segregated from ashes from other pets. You receive your pets ashes that you can keep at home, bury, or scatter in a memorial service.
Which pets can be aquamated?
What kinds of animals can Otis accommodate for aquamation?
Our pet aquamation service at Otis Pet Cremation can accommodate dogs, cats, small mammals, birds, reptiles and other species under 550 lbs.
Pet Aquamation is eco-friendly
Unlike flame cremation which uses a natural gas-fired furnace, aquamation produces no emissions that need to be released into the atmosphere, so the process is significantly more eco-friendly. Wastewater that is leftover is sterile and consists of only water and body salts.
At the end of the process, the water by-product is safely released into municipal wastewater systems. The bone remains are mechanically reduced to a grey powder and returned, when selected, to the pet owner for scattering in a special place or for keeping in an urn.
Used by eco-conscious humans too
Aquamation is used today as a funerary process for humans as well as pets. For example, Eirene Cremations offers aquamation as an alternative flame cremation for its human clients that are put to rest.
One of the key advantages to pet aquamation is it is both energy-efficient and cost-effective, and similarly priced to flame cremation. However, the water-based process uses 95% less energy relative to flame cremation and does not result in any pollutants.
7 Reasons to choose aquamation for your pet:
- Gentle and respectful pet funeral process
- Zero emissions – no harmful greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere
- Low energy consumption
- Has one-tenth of the carbon footprint compared to flame-based cremation
- 20 per cent more ashes are returned for families who request them
- Ashes are 100 per cent clean and they are disease and pollutant free.
- Cost for aquamtion is similar to standard flame-based cremation
Request more information about pet aquamation:
If you would like to know more about Pet Aquamation, contact our experts using the inquiry form below. We will provide you with pricing and additional information that you may need to choose pet aquamation for your pet at the end of their life.