UC Davis-Callahan Funeral Home in Morris unveils new aqua cremation service, uses water rather than fire

Going green might be a lifestyle choice, but now it can be an afterlife style as well. The UC Davis-Callahan Funeral Home in Morris recently unveiled its new aqua cremation service, only the second one of its kind in Illinois.

"It's the greenest way you can go, when talking about cremation," said funeral director John Callahan at a recent ribbon cutting for the new device.

The process begins by sliding the body into the chamber. Water is flushed through the chamber along with chemicals to increase the alkaline levels of the water, slowly dissolving the body in the process. There is no preparation required, although you can be embalmed if you want to have an open casket service beforehand.

The discharge line from the chamber is a standard 1 1/4 inch pipe, Callahan said. At the end of the process, which will require 300 gallons of water throughout 12 hours, the tank is completely washed down and only the bones remain.

"You get 20 percent more ashes back," Callahan said, compared to traditional cremation. After the bones are removed from the chamber, they are heated in a furnace and in the end are turned to ash. The ash is much whiter, he said, because they are not exposed to flames. The entire process takes about the same amount of time as traditional cremation.

"It's the most efficient way to dissolve a body," Callahan said.

Right now the only other funeral home with this technology is in South Holland, he said, but demand has been increasing, and he has given presentations to other funeral homes.

Because there is little waste, the Environmental Protection Agency does not require a permit.

Callahan said he did have to go through the City of Morris for some "permission slips."

"This is obviously a big adventure for us," he said.