Eco & Environment, Poole | Posted on March 10th, 2026 | return to news

Water cremations suggested for Poole Crematorium

A Dorset funeral director suggests that ‘alkaline hydrolysis’ could be the answer to the long-running problem of no cremators at Poole Crem.

The traditional cremators were removed from Poole Crematorium six years ago and, despite promises they would be replaced, they have yet to return.

Now a Dorset funeral director has come up with a solution to the long-running problem: water cremations.

Nick Douch, managing director of Dorset’s Douch Family Funeral Directors, believes the process – known as resomation or alkaline hydrolysis – could offer a greener alternative while giving families more choice.

The process has just been made legal in Scotland and is used around the world in places including Ireland and the United States.

Resomation uses water, heat and alkaline chemicals to break down the body, leaving bone fragments that can be returned to families in an urn, similar to ashes after a cremation.

Poole’s cremators were removed in 2020 due to irreparable failures. Since then, services have continued to take place there, but the cremations themselves take place in Bournemouth.

Douch said: “Many families would prefer everything to happen in one place, rather than their loved one being moved elsewhere.

“It also means additional vehicle journeys between Poole and Bournemouth. At a time when BCP Council is rightly focused on environmental issues, it would make sense to look at alternatives that reduce emissions.

“The equipment requires less space than traditional cremation equipment and produces significantly fewer emissions.”

He added: “Poole Crematorium is used by families across Dorset, including the Isle of Purbeck and out towards Dorchester.

“If the site were able to offer resomation, it would help take the pressure off Bournemouth and give families a choice alongside burial and cremation.

“With the method being legalised in Scotland, we hope it now becomes legal in England and Wales and would support a campaign to make it so.”

Douch Family Funeral Directors has branches in Wimborne, Corfe Mullen, Parkstone, Wareham, Swanage, Blandford and Ferndown.