Water Cremation

Q: What is Eco-Friendly Water Cremation?

Eco-friendly water cremation, also known as aquamation, saves energy and reduces pollution while still providing you with your pet’s cremated remains.  It is a slow, gentle and quiet process that simply speeds up the natural decomposition of soft tissue.

Here is a video produced by Radiant Heart that is more specific to our process.  It was created for veterinary professionals but is also appropriate for pet parents.

What is the difference between eco-friendly water cremation and traditional flame cremation?

Here are the differences most important to pet parents:

Water cremation is technologically superior to flame cremation and does not harm the environment.

With water cremation pets are partitioned — they are placed in their own compartment within a cradle along with a steel ID tag. You will receive only your pet’s cremated remains. 

With flame cremation we offer only private cremation — your pet will be the only pet in the crematorium.

The cremated remains created by water cremation are whiter than those created by flame cremation. Also, due to the fact that flame cremation is more destructive, water cremation generates 20% more cremated remains.

Witnessed cremations are available for both flame and water cremation.

Check out our blog post, A Cremation Pracitioner’s View: Why I Prefer Water Cremation / Why You Should Choose Water Cremation for Your Pet which compares the two processes from a crematory operator’s point of view.

Q: With water cremation, will I get my pet’s ashes back?

Yes. Both types of cremation result in cremated remains. Cremated remains are just bone.  With flame cremation sometimes a little bit of black carbon is left over and this turns flame cremated cremains gray.  Eco-friendly water cremains are what/off-white.

Q: Is there a cost difference?

Yes. Eco-friendly water cremation is less expensive than flame cremation.  In 2025, due to the rising cost of natural gas (used in flame cremation), Radiant Heart began charging an additional fee for flame cremation.

Q: May I have a more technical description of the process?

Please see Explanation of the Hydrolysis Process provided by Bio-Response Solutions, the maker of our PET550 pet aquamation machine.