Fla. firm bets big on water cremation
Newer service touted as easier on environment
It is not a service pitched easily in a television commercial or on a highway billboard, but Steve Pomerantz wants to get the word out: Gentle Water Cremation, a company Pomerantz co-founded and co-owns, is the only one in Florida offering water cremation, a relatively new way of processing human remains that Pomerantz and his partners believe more people will choose over burial or flame cremation.
That’s because water cremation, which has been around for about 20 years but has only been authorized in a handful of states, has a smaller carbon footprint than flame cremation and is less expensive than burial.
Pomerantz, who is Jewish, said others of his faith might feel more comfortable with water cremation than with flame cremation because of flame cremation’s ties to the Holocaust.
“I think of the Holocaust, and I think of flames,” Pomerantz said. “I think about ovens. This is a much more comforting option.”
How does water cremation work and how much does it cost?
Water cremation does use a machine that bears some physical resemblance to those used in flame cremation. But instead of fire, water cremation relies on pressure, heated water and potassium hydroxide to break down the body over five to seven hours, depending on the deceased person’s size.
Skeletal remains and nonbiological material – an artificial knee or hip joint, for example – are retrieved, with the skeletal remains then heated and ground down before being placed with the person’s other remains.
Water cremation, which cost about $3,000 at Gentle Water, takes about twice as long and is slightly more expensive than flame cremation. It is vastly less expensive than a funeral with burial, which had a median cost of more than $7,800 in 2021, according to figures from the National Funeral Directors Association.
Water cremation does use more water than flame cremation, but a brochure produced by Gentle Water said the process “requires less water than the average family goes through in a single day, and the environmental impact is minimal.”
Meanwhile, flame cremation releases 535 pounds of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that’s contributing to global warming. Water cremation releases no carbon dioxide.
How the company started
Gentle Water is the result of a collaboration between Pomerantz, a 40year old who specialized in tech startups, and Tina Robilotto, a 47-year old who was trained as an epidemiologist and did consulting work in the medical industry.
Pomerantz, who grew up in Florida and had moved to Los Angeles, was looking for a new business venture. Fifteen years ago, a friend at dinner told him about Robilotto, who was working through ideas tied to the application of potassium hydroxide.
Before the two met, Pomerantz had worked as a volunteer and board member for an organization that helped children grieving the loss of parents or siblings. At the behest of a friend, Pomerantz spent weekends at camp with the children, helping them process their loss.
“He kept talking to me about what a perspective shift it is,” Pomerantz said. “And that’s exactly what I got to see. You come out of each weekend with the knowledge that the grass is greener.”
After Pomerantz and Robilotto met, they began exploring the idea of forming a company that would offer water cremation.
“It struck me that this could help families grieve better,” he said.
The pair consulted with Dean Fisher, who worked as head of body donation at the Mayo Clinic and at UCLA. Fisher, Pomerantz said, retired and spent his savings on two water cremation machines, which each cost about $400,000.
At first, Pomerantz and Robilotto planned to open a business in California with Fisher as a likely competitor. Then, the trio decided to join forces.
When California’s red tape proved too onerous, the group decided open the business in Florida using one of Fisher’s machines. They hired Holly Sutton as managing funeral director.
First customer was the funeral director’s mother-in-law
Robilotto’s mother-in-law, Lovejoy Duryea, designed the interior space of the company’s offices. When she received a terminal cancer diagnosis, she decided to become Gentle Water’s first customer.
“She was involved from the beginning,” Robilotto said. “She knew that I was working with Steve. She thought it was an amazing option for West Palm Beach. Her excitement was, ‘I’m going to be the first.’ There was no convincing needed.”
Duryea was the first person to undergo water cremation at Gentle Water, which named its large processing machine in her honor.
With the consent of her family, the company keeps a portion of Duryea’s remains, ground to a fine, powdery-like substance, and her knee and hip replacement parts, to show to potential customers who have questions.
In its first five months, Gentle Water had 10 customers
John Stowe, 66, traveled from the Orlando area to have his late wife, Alexandra “Sandy” Stowe, undergo the process after her death in May.
The pair had been married for 37 years, and they began to discuss how her remains were to dealt with as liver and kidney failure tied to multiple sclerosis worsened.
Sandy said she wanted to go where her husband would someday be buried.
“Her thing was, ‘I want to be with you,’ ” John said. “But I didn’t want to be in the ground. I’d rather be recycled into a tree.”
As the two talked, John’s research led him to Gentle Water. He was pleased to learn the company would help him with transportation, and he liked the environmental benefits of water cremation.
“I’ll be buying a preliminary package for myself,” he said.