Water Cremation: What I Saw When the Lid Opened

Nothing burns. No flame, no 1,700-degree chamber - a warm stainless cylinder, and 20 to 30% more of her coming back than my retort gave. I ran a county retort for 31 years and have never operated one of these. I went and watched one run, here in Oklahoma, to see it before I had an opinion. When the lid came up there was a skeleton in the tray, not ash. I'm Vern Haskell, 66. 31 years working a county retort out past Tulsa, Oklahoma. No horror show. What I cover: What goes in: a shroud, a stainless cradle, one per cycle, no box The chemistry in plain words: 95% water, 5% lye, pH 14 Four to six hours pressurised, twelve to fourteen not, and why it matters What is in the tray when the hatch opens, and why the bone is soft Why the remains come out white, and where the 20-30% comes from The pacemaker: out before a fire, left be before water Cost, the 26-state list, and why legal is not available FACT-CHECK: Published cycle times run about 3.5-18 hours: 4-6 near 300F pressurised, 12-14 near 200F not. Solution about 95% water, 5% potassium or sodium hydroxide, pH near 14. Remains are calcium phosphate, as after flame. The 20-30% yield and whiter look are manufacturer and operator figures, not an independent lab, and the video says so. Hydrolysate is neutralised or diluted, then sent to sanitary sewer. Implants survive intact and are generally recycled. Costs are indicative and vary hugely: roughly $2,500 against $1,600 for flame. Legal per the Cremation Association of North America list of March 2026: 26 states including Oklahoma, other tallies 28, New Hampshire the only explicit ban, the rest mostly no law either way. Environmental claims are unverified here. DISCLAIMER: General information and my own opinion - not medical, legal or funeral advice. I describe no real, named person; stories are composites and no crematory, funeral home or family is identified. Some segments use AI narration.