Hydrolysis is any type of reaction where bonds are broken up by water molecules. With alkaline hydrolysis, a base is added to water to create an alkaline environment. This alters the behavior of water molecules, leading them to separate into hydrogen and hydroxide ions. The solution contains only 5% alkali and 95% water.  A commonly misunderstood fact is that it is actually the water that performs the breakdown during the Aquamation process, not the alkali.

Most living bodies are composed of 65% water, along with fat, protein, minerals, and carbohydrates. During the process, fats are reduced to salts, protein to amino acids, and small peptides and carbohydrates are reduced to sugars. The process reduces all organic components to their most basic building blocks, so small that no trace of protein or nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) remain. The organics are dissolved into the water, which consists of 96% water, and 4% amino acids, sugars, and salts by weight.

The ash is a light sage or white in color.  It retains more minerals, is clean and free of chemicals and pathogens, and has no carbon discoloration.

Many families prefer this method because it simply accelerates what would have occurred naturally in nature.

Aquamation is more similar to the natural decomposition that occurs after burial than any other body disposition method.  It is also how all humans extract nutrients from food in our small intestines.