What Is Water Cremation (Aquamation), and Can You Choose It in Australia?

Detailed Explanation

Water cremation is a genuinely new option for a body, and it arrives wrapped in unfamiliar words: aquamation, alkaline hydrolysis, resomation (a brand name), water cremation. They all describe the same process, using warm water and alkali, rather than flame, to do in hours what natural decomposition does over years. Archbishop Desmond Tutu chose it for his own funeral in 2021, citing its environmental gentleness, which brought it wider attention.

If you're comparing it against what you already know, it helps to have how flame cremation works fresh in mind. The two share more than they differ.

How the process works

• The person is placed, usually in a natural-fibre shroud, into a stainless-steel vessel. No coffin is used in the process itself, though a coffin can still be part of the service beforehand, and some families hire one for the ceremony.
• The vessel fills with a solution of water and alkali (typically potassium hydroxide) and is warmed. Depending on the system, the process runs from several hours up to most of a day, quietly, with no burning.
• What remains at the end is what flame cremation also leaves: the skeleton. The bone is rinsed, dried, and reduced to a fine powder returned to the family as ashes, typically a somewhat larger quantity than flame cremation produces, and paler in colour.
• The remaining liquid is sterile (the same compounds the body returns to the earth in any burial, with no tissue or DNA remaining) and goes to the treated wastewater system. Metal implants come out intact and are recycled, and pacemakers generally don't need removal beforehand, unlike flame cremation.

The same regulatory safeguards apply as for any cremation: certification of the death, the required permits, and one person at a time with tracked identification throughout.

How it compares with flame cremation

• The farewell is identical. A full service, a committal, or a direct, unattended arrangement: the choice of ceremony is completely unchanged.
• The ashes decisions are identical. Keeping, scattering, interring, dividing, jewellery: see what you can do with cremation ashes.
• The environmental footprint is the main difference. Aquamation is commonly cited as using around a tenth of the energy of flame cremation, with no direct emissions from burning, which is why eco-minded families shortlist it alongside natural burial. Treat specific percentage claims as provider figures rather than settled science, but the direction is not in dispute. See what makes a funeral environmentally friendly for how this choice fits alongside coffin, flower, and other eco-conscious decisions.
• Timing is similar in practice. The process itself takes longer than a flame cremation, but ashes are still typically returned within days.

Availability in Australia

This is the honest limitation. The disposal of bodies is regulated by each state and territory, and while aquamation is not prohibited (it has been quietly performed in Australia for over a decade, and is well established for pets), only a small number of human facilities operate as of 2026, so most funeral homes cannot yet offer it locally. Availability is changing as demand grows and states update older regulations written with only flame cremation in mind.

Practically: ask a funeral director what is available in your area. Where no local facility exists, some providers arrange transport to one elsewhere. That's workable, but it adds cost and days, and for some families that trade-off decides the question. A related but distinct process sometimes mentioned in the same breath, human composting, is not available at all, and aquamation's "legal but limited" position shouldn't be confused with that.

Recording it as a wish

Because availability is patchy, aquamation is a choice worth writing down rather than assuming: if it matters to you, record it in your funeral wishes with a fallback ("aquamation if available; otherwise the simplest cremation") so your family isn't left guessing, or searching for a facility mid-grief.

Things to Consider

• Distance may be the deciding factor. A strongly held preference can be honoured across distance, but weigh the transport cost and time against what the choice is really expressing. For many families, "the gentlest available option" is the actual wish, and a local alternative honours it.
• Faith positions vary. Some religious authorities have been cautious about alkaline hydrolysis, others untroubled, and Archbishop Tutu's choice is the best-known endorsement. If faith matters in your family, ask the relevant clergy rather than assuming either way.
• The "water" question deserves airing. Some family members find the process gentler than flame; others are unsettled by the liquid's disposal. Talk about it before booking, not after. Providers explain it well, and the FAQ above gives the plain version.
• Expect slightly different ashes. More volume and a paler colour than flame cremation, worth knowing when choosing an urn or keepsakes so the container isn't too small.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming it's illegal because it's unfamiliar. It isn't. The barrier is the small number of facilities, not the law. Ask what's available rather than ruling it out.
• Assuming it's available everywhere because it's legal. The opposite error; as of 2026, in many regions the nearest facility is far away or doesn't exist yet.
• Treating provider environmental claims as precise. The energy saving is real and substantial, but specific percentages vary by system and study. Decide on the direction, not a decimal.
• Not writing the wish down. An unrecorded preference for an unusual option is the one most likely to be missed in the first blur of arrangements.