Water cremation: what it is, what it costs, and where it’s legal.

The body is placed in a pressurized chamber with water and an alkali — potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, or both. The chamber is heated to roughly 100 to 150 °C (212 to 300 °F). Over about 2 to 10 hours, depending on the temperature and the person’s weight, the soft tissue dissolves. The bones remain.

You will see several names for the same process. Alkaline hydrolysis is the term in most of the state laws we read. Aquamation and resomation are trademarks that came into general use, and bio-cremation is an industry term. Hawaii’s law calls it water cremation.

The bones are dried and ground into a white powder that is returned to the family, usually in an urn or a temporary container, just as with flame cremation. Compared with flame cremation ashes, it is whiter and there is more of it, so ask whether the urn you have in mind is large enough.

In the state rules we read, the ashes are treated much like cremated remains: they can be placed in an urn or a container for burial or scattering. Minnesota, for example, requires cemeteries that allow scattering to set aside a place for “hydrolyzed or cremated remains.” Local rules on scattering vary, so check before you scatter on land you don’t own.

About 1,500 to 2,000 liters (about 400 to 530 gallons) of liquid are left. It contains no DNA. Its pH is checked or treated, and it goes to a wastewater treatment system under local environmental rules. For some families this is the part that takes thinking about; it is also the part the Catholic bishops object to (section 6).

These states name alkaline hydrolysis in a statute or a funeral-board rule, as of October 2026. We list only states where we could read the law itself; counts you see elsewhere are often higher and could not be confirmed.

• Banned:New Hampshire’s law prohibits disposing of human remains by alkaline hydrolysis.
• Pending:Pennsylvania’s House passed HB 722 (152–51) on October 1, 2025; it has been in a Senate committee since. Bills in Virginia (2023, 2024), New Mexico (2025) and Massachusetts have not passed.
• Not listed:your state’s law may not mention it either way. The state funeral board, or a local funeral home, can tell you whether it is allowed and offered there.

No government publishes a price for water cremation. Prices published by providers we checked in October 2026:

• A Champaign, Illinois provider: $1,595.
• Washington State, through funeral homes in People’s Memorial Association’s program (July 2026 to June 2027): $1,738 to $2,508 for members, $2,045 to $2,950 for non-members.

As with any arrangement, the total depends on transport, the container, the death certificates and any service you add. Our cost of cremation guide covers those pieces.

Possibly, though the evidence so far is limited. A 2023 Scottish Government consultation called the evidence base “limited.” It noted that the Health Council of the Netherlands found alkaline hydrolysis compared favorably with both burial and cremation on resource use, emissions and space.

You will see specific figures online — a fraction of the energy, several times less carbon. We could not trace those to a government or peer-reviewed source, so we don’t repeat them.

• Catholic.In March 2023 the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine said alkaline hydrolysis does not show adequate respect for the human body, in part because the liquid is treated as wastewater.
• Reform Jewish. The Central Conference of American Rabbis has written that it is no more objectionable than cremation, while preferring burial and asking that what remains be buried.

We could not find official statements from other denominations. If faith matters in this decision, a conversation with your own clergy is the place to start.

Water cremation is arranged through a funeral home, the same way as flame cremation. Not every funeral home offers it, even where it is legal. When you call, ask:

1. Do you offer alkaline hydrolysis, and where is it done? If not, ask whether they can arrange it.
2. What does it cost, and can you send your General Price List? They must answer price questions by phone; ask whether they can email the list.
3. How long until the ashes are returned?
4. Will my urn hold the larger volume?

To find funeral homes near you, search by city. If you are planning ahead rather than arranging now, write your choice down with your other wishes; our planning-ahead checklist shows where it fits.