Down the drain: Dunedin funeral home considers body liquifier machine

A Resomator body liquifier. Photo / Supplier

Being boiled down into a liquid instead of being buried or cremated could be an option for the dearly departed in Dunedin.

It has been reported Christchurch-based company Water Cremation Aotearoa New Zealand is planning to import a $600,000 Resomator machine which can liquefy a body in three to four hours.

The British-made device uses 95% per cent water and 5 per cent liquid alkali (potassium hydroxide solution) to break down body tissue, leaving an inert brown, slightly alkaline liquid and porous white bones that can be ground down into a white powder.

In essence, the machine uses the natural process of alkaline hydrolysis to break down the body but uses high temperatures (150 deg C) to rapidly accelerate the process.

A Resomator body liquifier. Photo / Supplier

Machine manufacturers claim it is a much more environmentally friendly method of disposal than burial or cremation, and is significantly cheaper to run than a cremator. It is used in Canada and the United States.

Gillions Funeral Services managing director Keith Gillions said he was interested in the technology, but wanted to see if New Zealand legislation would allow it before investing in it.

A major hurdle was what happened to the liquid after the process was complete, he said.

A bigger hurdle was making people comfortable with the idea of effectively being poured down a drain.

He said about 80 per cent of people in Dunedin were cremated, but it had taken a long time for it to become accepted.

Spokesmen for Hope and Sons, in Dunedin, and Campbell and Sons Funeral Services, in Mosgiel, said they had no interest in the technology.