Free Courses Sale ends Soon, Get It Now


AQUAMATION        

8th January, 2022

 

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context

  • The body of Nobel Peace Prize winning Anglican archbishop and anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu underwent aquamation, a green alternative to traditional cremation methods.

 

What is 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.

 

How long has alkaline hydrolysis been in use?

  • 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.
  • Thereafter, the process continued to be in use by hospitals and universities with donated body programmes.

 

Significance

  • 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 decomposition that occurs in alkaline hydrolysis is the same as that which occurs during burial, just sped up dramatically by the chemicals.
  • The effluent is sterile, and contains salts, sugars, amino acids and peptides.
  • 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.

 

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-desmond-tutu-aquamation-green-alternative-cremation-7704534/