Water Cremation (Alkaline Hydrolysis): What It Is and Where It Is Legal

Updated September 5, 2026 · Written by Jordan Colton, founder of Cherished Emblems · State table verified against current sources; each row shows its last verified date

What is water cremation?

Water cremation, known in law as alkaline hydrolysis, uses warm water and a small amount of alkali instead of flame to reduce a body to bone mineral and a sterile liquid. As of September 2026 it is legal for human remains in 26 US states and in five Canadian provinces and territories, and the remains you receive can be kept, buried, scattered, or placed in a keepsake exactly like ashes from flame cremation.

It has been used on human remains in the United States since Minnesota licensed it in 2003, and it is sold as aquamation, resomation, bio cremation, flameless cremation, and green cremation. All describe the same thing. This page explains what happens, what it costs, what comes back to you, and, state by state, whether you can choose it where you live. Laws here change most years, so each row in the table carries the date we last checked it.

Key facts at a glance

• Legal in 26 states for human remains, most recently Maryland and South Carolina in 2024 (CANA, March 2026).
• Explicitly prohibited in one state: New Hampshire, under RSA 325-A:30 (NFDA, October 2024).
• Pending in 2026: Pennsylvania (HB 722 passed the House 152 to 51 in October 2025), Rhode Island (passed the House 47 to 17 on May 29, 2026), and Massachusetts (amendment filed July 2026).
• Canada: legal in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories (NCCEH, April 2023; CANA, March 2026).
• How it works: water plus potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, heated to roughly 199 to 302 degrees Fahrenheit, for three to sixteen hours depending on the system (CANA, 2026).
• What comes back: pure white bone mineral, ground to a fine powder, about 32 percent more by volume than flame cremation (CANA, 2026); 20 to 30 percent more for pets (AAHA, 2022).
• Energy: roughly one seventh to one eighth the energy of flame cremation, with no smokestack emissions of mercury, particulates, or dioxins (NCCEH, 2023).
• Cost: typically $2,500 to $4,500 in the US, with direct service from about $1,300 and full service above $5,000; usually $500 to $1,000 more than flame cremation in the same market (US Funerals Online, May 2026; Funeral.com, January 2026).
• Pacemakers: do not have to be removed first, because there is no flame or extreme heat, unless state law says otherwise (CANA, 2026).
• Catholic position: the US bishops' doctrine committee said in March 2023 that alkaline hydrolysis does not satisfy the Church's requirements for respect for the body (USCCB).

On this page

• Where water cremation is legal in the United States
• Where water cremation is legal in Canada
• What happens during water cremation
• Water cremation compared with flame cremation and burial
• Environmental impact
• What water cremation costs
• What religions say about water cremation
• Water cremation for pets
• Can you use the remains in cremation jewelry?
• Common questions
• How we keep this page current
• Update history
• Sources

Where water cremation is legal in the United States

Twenty six states allow alkaline hydrolysis for human remains as of September 2026, according to the Cremation Association of North America and the National Funeral Directors Association. The most recent additions are Maryland and South Carolina in 2024, West Virginia and Arizona in 2022, and Tennessee and Oklahoma in 2021. Three more states have live bills in 2026. Legal does not always mean available: several states that permit the process have no facility offering it, and families there often work with a funeral home that transports to a neighboring state. Each row shows the status, the year where we could confirm it, the statute or bill, notes on providers and on sources that disagree, and the date we last checked it.

Where water cremation is legal in Canada

Five Canadian jurisdictions permit alkaline hydrolysis for human remains. British Columbia and Alberta do not, despite a decade of lobbying in BC; the rest have no regulation and are not on CANA's list.

What happens during water cremation

The process step by step

The body is placed in a sealed stainless steel vessel, usually in a biodegradable shroud or basket rather than a casket. The chamber holds about 100 gallons of water with a small share of alkali, most often potassium hydroxide, sometimes sodium hydroxide. The solution is heated and, depending on the machine, pressurized or gently circulated. High temperature units run near 300 degrees Fahrenheit under pressure and finish in about three to six hours; low temperature units run just below boiling, without pressure, and take up to 16 or 18 hours. Either way the alkali does what soil does over decades: it breaks proteins and fats into their building blocks, and only the mineral of the skeleton remains (CANA, 2026; NCCEH, 2023).

What you receive afterward

What comes out is bone mineral, mostly calcium phosphate, pure white and softer than the fragments left after flame cremation. It is dried, cooled, and ground in the same processor a crematory uses. The result is a fine powder, lighter in color than flame cremated ashes, and there is more of it, about 32 percent more by CANA's figure, because nothing is lost to the fire. That can mean a slightly larger urn. It comes to you in a temporary container or an urn of your choosing and can be kept, buried, scattered, or divided like any other cremated remains.

Can there be a viewing or service first

Yes. Water cremation happens after any visitation, viewing, or funeral service, just as flame cremation does. You can hold a service with the body present and then send the body for hydrolysis, or hold a memorial afterward with the remains present. Embalming is not required; ask your provider how they handle a viewing.

Pacemakers, implants, and clothing

A pacemaker must come out before flame cremation because its battery can explode. Water cremation has no flame, so pacemakers and most implants can stay unless your state's rules say otherwise (CANA, 2026). Metal joints, plates, and dental work come through clean and are separated from the remains. Natural fibers such as cotton, wool, and silk dissolve; synthetics do not, so providers use a natural fiber shroud.

Where the water goes

The liquid left at the end, about 100 gallons in most systems, is a sterile solution of water, salts, sugars, amino acids, and peptides with no tissue and no DNA (CANA, 2026). Once cooled and its pH brought down, it goes to the municipal wastewater system under the facility's permit, the same route as any funeral home or hospital discharge. This is the part some families and faith communities find hard, and the specific reason the Catholic bishops gave for their objection, so we name it plainly rather than hide it.

Water cremation compared with flame cremation and burial

Environmental impact: water cremation compared with flame cremation and burial

The comparison comes down to energy, what goes into the air, and what goes into the ground. Each figure below is labeled by who produced it.

Energy

Canada's National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health estimates alkaline hydrolysis uses about one seventh to one eighth the energy of flame cremation, because the vessel is heated to a few hundred degrees rather than the 1,400 to 2,100 of a retort (NCCEH, 2023). Resomation, the Scottish manufacturer, makes the same one seventh claim; that is manufacturer data (NBC News). A widely repeated figure of about 90 kilowatt hours per cycle traces back to a vendor, not a study (Wikipedia).

Air emissions

A flame cremation releases an average of about 535 pounds of carbon dioxide, per the equipment maker Matthews Environmental Solutions, or roughly 360,000 metric tons a year across the US (National Geographic, 2019). The other concern is mercury from dental fillings. Connecticut's environmental agency assumes an average of 0.0034 pounds of mercury per cremation, and up to 0.013, in crematory permits (CT DEEP, 2019), and the EPA estimated US crematoria released about 6,500 pounds of mercury a year in the late 2000s (University of Minnesota). Water cremation has no smokestack, so it emits no mercury, particulates, or dioxins, and fillings are recovered with other metal (NCCEH, 2023).

Water use and the effluent

A Texas A&M analysis cited on Wikipedia gives 60 to 240 gallons of water per 1,000 pounds of tissue and 120 to 300 gallons of effluent; an industry report citing a vendor says 300 to 400 gallons per body (Earth Funeral, 2025). Treat both as vendor figures. The effluent is sterile water carrying salts, sugars, amino acids, and peptides, no tissue or DNA (CANA, 2026), discharged to the sanitary sewer where a treatment plant handles it like other organic wastewater (NCCEH, 2023). California requires facilities discharging to a sewer to submit spore test results to the state health department (California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, 2021).

Conventional burial

Burial's footprint is in materials. Figures compiled by Cornell science writer Mary Woodsen and published by the Green Burial Council put US burials at 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluid, 20 million board feet of hardwood, 1.6 million tons of concrete, 64,500 tons of steel, and 17,000 tons of copper and bronze a year (Green Burial Council). The Funeral Consumers Alliance publishes higher figures without a source (FCA). Neither set is audited, which is why we dropped the numbers from our 2018 post.

The limits of the evidence

No peer reviewed life cycle assessment we could find compares all three methods head to head. The one rigorous study, Keijzer (2017), covered only burial and flame cremation in the Netherlands and found the ranking depends on how much weight you give land use. Everything else here comes from public health reviews, regulators, and equipment makers. The direction is consistent: water cremation uses less energy and emits nothing to the air. The exact percentages are less certain than advocates on either side say.

What water cremation costs

A standard water cremation in the United States runs about $2,500 to $4,500, with direct service from around $1,300 in some markets and full service above $5,000. That is usually $500 to $1,000 more than flame cremation from the same funeral home, a gap that reflects the cost and scarcity of the equipment and has been narrowing as more facilities open (US Funerals Online, May 2026; Funeral.com, January 2026). If your state allows it but has no provider, add transport to a neighboring state. Ask for the itemized general price list; funeral homes must give you one.

What religions say about water cremation

Most traditions that accept flame cremation have not ruled separately on water cremation, so families follow their tradition's guidance on cremation generally. The clearest official statement is Catholic. In March 2023 the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine said that alkaline hydrolysis and human composting "fail to satisfy the Church's requirements for proper respect for the bodies of the dead," pointing to the roughly 100 gallons of liquid "into which the greater part of the body has been dissolved" being treated as wastewater, while reaffirming that ordinary cremation is permitted when it is not chosen for reasons contrary to the faith (USCCB, 2023). Traditions that require burial, including Orthodox Judaism and Islam, would not accept water cremation either. For every major tradition's position on cremation itself, see our guide to religious views on cremation.

Water cremation for pets

Water cremation is far more widely available for pets than for people. Veterinary sources describe it as legal for animals in all 50 states and across Canada, because pet aftercare falls under different rules than human disposition (American Animal Hospital Association, 2022). New York addresses it in its pet crematory rules while not allowing it for humans, and Michigan has pet facilities in Kalamazoo and Lansing but no human provider (Funeral.com, January 2026). The pet process is the same, usually run at a lower temperature for around 20 hours, and returns a light colored powder with 20 to 30 percent more volume than flame cremation, at a comparable price.

Can you use the remains in cremation jewelry?

Yes. The remains from water cremation are a fine, dry mineral powder, a little finer and paler than flame cremated ashes, and they fill a keepsake the same way. If you want to keep them close, a small, symbolic portion of the remains goes into the sealed chamber of a pendant, bracelet, or keychain, and the rest stays in the urn or is scattered or buried. Our cremation jewelry is laser engraved in Oregon and works with either kind of remains, for a person or a pet.

Common questions

Is water cremation legal in my state?

Water cremation is legal for human remains in 26 states as of September 2026: 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. New Hampshire bans it, and bills are pending in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Check the table above, then confirm with a licensed funeral director, because a legal state may still have no provider.

Is water cremation better for the environment?

By the measures that have been studied, yes. Public health reviews estimate it uses about one seventh to one eighth the energy of flame cremation and produces no smokestack emissions of carbon dioxide, mercury, or particulates. The tradeoff is roughly 100 gallons of sterile liquid sent to wastewater treatment. Treat precise percentage claims from vendors with care; we found no peer reviewed study comparing all three options.

Do you get ashes back from water cremation?

Yes. You receive the mineral of the bones, dried and ground to a fine white powder, and in a slightly larger amount than flame cremation would give, about 32 percent more by volume. It can be kept, buried, scattered, divided among family, or placed in keepsakes.

How long does water cremation take?

Three to sixteen hours in the chamber, depending on the equipment and the size of the person. High temperature pressurized units finish in about three to six hours; low temperature units take up to sixteen or eighteen. Add a day or two for drying and processing; most families receive the remains within about a week.

Is water cremation more expensive?

Usually a little. Expect $2,500 to $4,500 for a standard water cremation in the US, roughly $500 to $1,000 more than flame cremation from the same provider, with direct service available from about $1,300 in some markets. Prices are dropping as more facilities open.

Is water cremation the same as aquamation?

Yes. Aquamation, resomation, bio cremation, flameless cremation, green cremation, and water cremation are all names for alkaline hydrolysis, which is what state laws call it. Some of the names come from the two main equipment makers, Resomation and Bio Response Solutions.

Can I have a funeral first?

Yes. Water cremation takes place after any viewing, visitation, or funeral service, just as flame cremation does. You can also hold a memorial afterward with the remains present. Embalming is not required.

What happens to the water?

The liquid left after the process is sterile and contains salts, sugars, amino acids, and peptides but no tissue and no DNA. It is cooled, its pH is adjusted, and it is released to the municipal wastewater system under the facility's permit. Decide how you feel about that before you choose.

How we keep this page current

Every state row carries the date we last verified it against a statute, bill record, regulator page, or an industry source such as CANA or NFDA. We re check the table quarterly and whenever a bill passes, and we add a dated line to the update history rather than silently editing. If we have missed a change, or you can confirm a provider in a state marked as having none, please email us.

Update history

September 5, 2026: Page published as an evergreen guide. It replaces the November 2018 blog post "What is Water Cremation? Can I Use Cremation Jewelry With The Ashes?", which now redirects here. The 2018 post said 11 states allowed water cremation; the count is now 26. States added since then include Utah and North Carolina (2018), Washington (2020), Tennessee and Oklahoma (2021), Arizona, Hawaii, and West Virginia (2022), and Maryland and South Carolina (2024). Rhode Island's bill passed the House in May 2026 and is held in the Senate; Pennsylvania's HB 722 awaits the Senate. (source)

Sources

1. Alkaline Hydrolysis, Cremation Association of North America, updated March 2026
2. Alkaline Hydrolysis Regulation by State (October 14, 2024), NFDA
3. Alkaline Hydrolysis for Funeral Service Professionals, NFDA
4. Water Cremation and Aquamation Laws in Your State, Nolo
5. Tracker: Where Is Alkaline Hydrolysis Legal in the US?, Earth Funeral, February 2023
6. Where Is Aquamation Legal?, US Funerals Online, May 2026
7. South Carolina Code Section 32-8-305 (Safe Cremation Act), SC Legislature, 2024
8. Minnesota SF 1071 (2003), Chapter 32, Minnesota Legislature
9. Arizona HB 2024 (2022), Chapter 257, LegiScan
10. Tennessee SB 931 (2021), Public Chapter 141, LegiScan
11. West Virginia Code 30-6-22b, WV Legislature, 2022
12. Funeral Services Licensing Act 2025, Oklahoma Funeral Board
13. Missouri 20 CSR 2120-1.040, Definitions, Legal Information Institute
14. Human Composting Is Now Legal in Maryland and Delaware, Earth Funeral, 2024
15. Virginia SB 1487 (2023), LegiScan
16. Alkaline hydrolysis bill passes House, Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus, October 2025
17. Rhode Island House passes bill allowing water cremation and human composting, WJAR, May 29, 2026
18. Massachusetts weighs human composting amendment (H 5562), Mass Daily News, July 2026
19. Indiana SB 22 (2026), Dissolution of human remains, LegiScan
20. Texas SB 1327 (2025), BillTrack50
21. Alternative Disposition Services: Green Burial, Alkaline Hydrolysis and Human Composting, NCCEH (Canada), April 2023
22. Statement on the Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains, USCCB Committee on Doctrine, March 23, 2023
23. An Eco Friendly Ending, American Animal Hospital Association, April 2022
24. Water Cremation Cost and Comparison: A 2026 Guide, US Funerals Online, May 2026
25. Aquamation vs. Flame Cremation Cost, Funeral.com, January 2026
26. Default Mercury Emission Factors for Crematory Permit Reviews, Connecticut DEEP, May 2019
27. About Mercury Emissions, University of Minnesota Dental Mercury Research
28. The environmental toll of cremating the dead, National Geographic, November 2019
29. How Does the New Corpse Dissolving Machine Work?, NBC News (Resomation figures)
30. Alkaline hydrolysis (body disposal), Wikipedia, citing Texas A&M
31. The Environmental Impact of Funeral Choices, Earth Funeral, June 2025
32. Hydrolysis Facility Regulations, Final Statement of Reasons, California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, May 2021
33. Green Burial Council Media Kit (Woodsen figures), Green Burial Council
34. Green Burial and Other Environmentally Friendly Choices, Funeral Consumers Alliance
35. The environmental impact of activities after life: life cycle assessment of funerals, Keijzer, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2017

Educational. Laws change; confirm with a licensed funeral provider in your state. Cherished Emblems sells cremation jewelry.