Water cremation could soon be a reality in Malta following a couple’s application to build a centre offering the service in Żabbar.

Kate and Jeremy Muscat have applied to build a resomation centre – the name given to such a facility – on land they co-own next to the Żabbar cemetery.

The site notice was published last week and, while the application is still being assessed by the Planning Authority, the couple hope to be granted approval soon and be up and running in as little as two years.

Aquamation, also known as “alkaline hydrolysis” or water cremation, is an increasingly popular cremation method abroad which is billed as more environmentally friendly than its fire-based alternative.

Kate and Jeremy Muscat. Photo: Kate Muscat

When the body of the deceased is aquamated, it is immersed in a mixture of water and an alkali, such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, and heated to around 150°C inside a pressurised container for around four hours.

The process dissolves everything except bones, which are then dried and reduced to a fine white powder.

“Aquamation essentially speeds up 20 years of decomposition into around four hours,” said Kate Muscat, a former biomedical scientist with a family background in funerary services.

“The minute someone dies, their body starts decomposing; we’re just speeding up the process,” she said.

Muscat stressed the process is more sterile and environmentally friendly than traditional cremation, with no fumes emitted and no DNA of the deceased remaining in the water that is left over and disposed of afterwards.

When a body breaks down in an aquamation chamber, everything except the person’s bones is reduced to fats, amino acids, sugars and proteins, with no trace of the person’s genetics left in the solution, Muscat explained.

And while the process might be new to Malta, in other countries it is becoming increasingly popular. Aquamation has even found celebrity endorsement, with famously the late anti-apartheid and human rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu opting for it.

What will the site look like?

According to the plans submitted for a Repose Crematorium, in addition to its aquamation facilities, the site will also feature a garden with a columbarium – a structure housing urns – and tombstones.

“The crematorium will have a remembrance garden and a ceremony room,” said Muscat. “And families can either choose to take the remains of their loved ones with them or leave the ashes in our care in the columbarium.”

She said although the site is legally required to be able to offer storage of remains, the couple are keen for the centre to fulfill a role as a place families can visit to remember the deceased.

“It’s important to us that the garden is green, well kept and a nice place to visit,” she said, adding the site is expected to be able to store the remains of about 600 people.

The aquamation chamber, a stainless-steel tank, will be housed in a room two floors below ground level.

This, in addition to the lack of visible signs of the process – such as the plumes of smoke typically emitted from traditional crematoriums – will keep the process discreet and hidden from passersby, Muscat said.

Kate’s husband, Jeremy is a lawyer who owns a construction company, which the couple intend to use to build the centre.

The planned columbarium will include locker-type storage facilities for the remains of the deceased. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Aquamation is for everyone

According to Muscat, aquation is “not just for foreigners but for everyone”, adding she had received interest from a “significant” number of Maltese people when conducting a randomised study online into its potential popularity.

While cremation used to be prohibited in Malta due to its strong Catholic roots, in 2019 a bill allowing the practice was passed by parliament, opening the door to other forms of final disposition aside from burial.

And while the practice might be associated with secularism or other religions such as Hinduism, it has been allowed by the Vatican for decades after the Catholic Church lifted its historic ban on cremation in 1963.  Despite the move, the Vatican still recommends burial as its preferred method of disposition, however, and has issued guidelines on how to dispose of ashes.

According to a papal press release in 2016, “the ashes of the faithful must be laid to rest in a sacred place, that is, in a cemetery or, in certain cases, in a church or an area which has been set aside for this purpose”.

The Vatican also said it was “not permitted to scatter the ashes of the faithful departed in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way”, including in jewellery or other items.

Potential legal issues?

Despite the change in Maltese law, at the time of publication the country is still without a crematorium. In September, one widower told Times of Malta his family had been forced to travel to Sicily to cremate his late wife in accordance with her wishes.

And while the Planning Authority issued a draft policy on the design of crematoriums in February last year, with a further update issued in September, the process is still under review.

The Muscats are not worried, however, saying they had been told by the authorities there were no issues with the zoning of the land, adding the Planning Authority had seemed “very positive” about the project.

And, according to the Cremation Act, cremation means the “technical process which reduces human remains to cremated remains”. It does not specify this as only applying to heat-based methods, something the Muscats are confident should mean they will encounter no issues.

How much will aquamation cost?

Aquamation at the Repose Crematorium is expected to cost about €1,500 when it opens.

This is expected to offer savings when compared to heat-based cremation, which, at present, can cost about €4,500 due to the additional costs of  transporting bodies to other countries due to a lack of facilities in Malta.

It is also much less than buying a grave, which costs €8,000 once a person is added to the waiting list. The price was established by a legal notice in 2016.