Aquamation

In news– The body of Nobel Peace Prize winning Anglican archbishop and anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu underwent aquamation, a green alternative to traditional cremation methods, in Cape Town recently.

About Aquamation-

Aquamation, or alkaline hydrolysis, is a process in which the body of the deceased is immersed for a few hours in a mixture of water and a strong alkali in a pressurized metal cylinder and heated to around 150 degree centigrade.
The combination of gentle water flow, temperature and alkalinity accentuate the breakdown of the organic materials.
It has been defined as “flameless cremation”.
Considered to be an environmentally friendly way to dispose of a body, the process is also known as water cremation, green cremation or chemical cremation.

The process leaves behind bone fragments and a neutral liquid called effluent.
The effluent is sterile, and contains salts, sugars, amino acids and peptides.
The decomposition that occurs in alkaline hydrolysis is the same as that which occurs during burial, just sped up dramatically by the chemicals.
There is no tissue and no DNA left after the process completes.
This effluent is discharged with all other wastewater, and is a welcome addition to the water systems.
The process of aquamation uses energy which is five times less than fire.
The process is a greener alternative as it uses significantly less fuel and has an overall lower carbon footprint than cremation.
The process was developed and patented in 1888 by Amos Herbert Hanson, a farmer who was trying to develop an ingenious way to make fertilizer from animal carcasses.
The first commercial system was installed at Albany Medical College in 1993 after which the process continued to be in use by hospitals and universities with donated body programmes.
It was only in 2011 that the process was used in the funeral industry, at two funeral homes in Ohio and Florida, USA.