How Big is a 5 Gallon Bucket

Five gallon buckets are usually made of plastic and are very popular in the United States. These usually come with plastic or metal wire handles to make it easier to carry them around.

A 5-gallon bucket can of course hold five gallons of liquid or loose materials such as soil or fertilizer. Five US gallons is equivalent to approximately 18.93 liters while 5 Imperial gallons is about 22.73 liters.

This bucket size is also called an 18-liter and a 20-liter bucket.

How Big is a 5-Gallon Bucket?

For its physical dimensions, a gallon that can hold five gallons of liquid is about 15 inches in height with a diameter of 12 inches. This is about 38.1 centimeters high and 30.48 centimeters in diameter.

Primary Uses of the 5-Gallon Bucket

There was a time when construction materials were placed in metal 5-gallon buckets but in recent years, the metal bucket was replaced by the plastic bucket.

One reason for this is that metal buckets tend to corrode over time while plastic can be used for many years without compromising its form or quality – if handled well.

The 5-gallon plastic bucket popular today is primarily used to transport large quantities of food for restaurants and diners. The buckets of course undergo quality control to ensure that they are safe for storing food.

While these are recyclable and also reusable, the food industry is not advised to re-use these buckets for the same purpose – that is storing food in the buckets again after the original food they came with has been taken out.

Versatility of the 5-Gallon Bucket

These buckets are very versatile in that they can be re-used for a number of purposes. Some of the more popular uses for these buckets are transporting water, soil and fertilizers to be used for planting and gardening.

These can also be used to transport paint from one area at home to the next for home improvement projects.

For storage purposes, these are used to keep kids’ toys, garage tools and cleaning materials.

There are also a lot of creative uses for this bucket. Some street performers use the 5-gallon bucket as makeshift drums. This is called bucket drumming. Those who love fishing also use this to store their catch and also as makeshift seats.

Safety Precautions

Due to incidents of accidental drowning, there is a warning label that goes with the bucket to warn parents and adults to keep young kids away from the bucket. Toddlers can fall in head first and drown.