Pet Aqua Farewells is Chattanooga’s first business offering “aquamation,” or alkaline hydrolysis, an alternative to flame-based cremation touted as more eco-friendly.
Opened this month in Ooltewah, Pet Aqua Farewells aims to educate the public about this greener option, which uses 20% less energy and produces no emissions, owner Jared Nelson said in an interview.
When people first hear of aquamation, they tend to picture scenes from movies in which bodies are placed in tubs of acid to hide evidence of their remains, he said, adding that the alkaline hydrolysis process is actually the opposite of that.
The aquamation process uses water and potassium hydroxide to break down organic materials and involves no harsh chemicals, said McKenna Nelson, Jared Nelson’s wife, who also works for the business.
“It’s just mimicking a natural process, as if the animal is buried in the ground, except that process takes about two years to fully complete,” she said, adding that the aquamation process takes about 18 hours, compared to flame cremation’s five to six hours.