Reference · Tables

Every capacity conversion you will need at a dock.

Print it, tape it to the wall by the scale, stop doing arithmetic on the back of a bill of lading. All the common formats converted into every unit anybody in this trade actually uses.

The short answer

275 US gal = 1,041 L = 36.8 cu ft = 6.55 oil barrels = five 55-gallon drums. 330 US gal = 1,249 L = 44.1 cu ft = 7.86 barrels = six drums. A European “1000 litre” IBC is 264 US gallons — eleven gallons short of a 275.

Master conversion

Every format, every unit.

US gallon = 3.78541 L. Imperial gallon = 4.54609 L. Oil barrel = 42 US gal. Cubic foot = 7.48052 US gal.
US gal	Imp gal	Litres	Cubic ft	Cubic m	Oil bbl	55-gal drums
120	100	454	16.0	0.454	2.86	2.2
180	150	681	24.1	0.681	4.29	3.3
220	183	833	29.4	0.833	5.24	4.0
264 (1000 L)	220	1,000	35.3	1.000	6.29	4.8
275	229	1,041	36.8	1.041	6.55	5.0
330	275	1,249	44.1	1.249	7.86	6.0
350	291	1,325	46.8	1.325	8.33	6.4
450	375	1,703	60.2	1.703	10.71	8.2
550	458	2,082	73.5	2.082	13.10	10.0

US gallon = 3.78541 L. Imperial gallon = 4.54609 L. Oil barrel = 42 US gal. Cubic foot = 7.48052 US gal.

Factors

The multipliers, if you would rather do it yourself.

From	To	Multiply by
US gallons	Litres	3.78541
US gallons	Imperial gallons	0.83267
US gallons	Cubic feet	0.13368
US gallons	Cubic metres	0.00379
US gallons	Oil barrels (42 gal)	0.02381
Litres	US gallons	0.26417
Litres	Cubic metres	0.001
Cubic feet	US gallons	7.48052
Cubic metres	US gallons	264.172
Imperial gallons	US gallons	1.20095

Weight conversion	Value
Water, per US gallon	8.34 lb / 3.785 kg
Water, per litre	2.205 lb / 1.000 kg
Water, per cubic foot	62.4 lb / 28.3 kg
Pounds to kilograms	× 0.45359
Kilograms to pounds	× 2.20462
Short ton (US)	2,000 lb / 907 kg
Metric tonne	2,205 lb / 1,000 kg
Net weight of liquid	gal × 8.34 × specific gravity

Practical

Conversions that come up in real orders.

The conversions that come up most often when planning an order, worked once so nobody has to do it again.

Loaded totes usually hit a trailer's payload limit before its 26 floor positions; see the weight guide.
Question	Answer	Working
How many totes for 10,000 gallons?	37 × 275 gal, or 31 × 330 gal	10,000 ÷ 275 = 36.4, round up
Containment for one 275 at 110%?	40.4 cu ft (302.5 gal)	275 × 1.1 ÷ 7.48 gal per cu ft
Totes to replace 40 drums?	8 × 275 gal	40 drums × 55 gal = 2,200 gal ÷ 275
Gallons in 26 trailer positions?	7,150 (275s) or 8,580 (330s)	26 positions × capacity
A 6,500 gal tanker load in totes?	24 × 275 gal	6,500 ÷ 275 = 23.6, round up
Litres in 26 positions of 275s?	27,066 L	26 × 1,041
Rain to fill a 275 from 1,000 sq ft?	0.44 in of rainfall	275 ÷ 623 gal per inch

Loaded totes usually hit a trailer's payload limit before its 26 floor positions; see the weight guide.

Conversion questions

How many litres is a 275 gallon IBC tote?

1,041 litres. The conversion is 3.785 litres per US gallon, so 275 × 3.785 = 1,040.9. European specifications usually round this to 1,000 litres for a similar but not identical bottle — a 1,000 litre IBC is 264 US gallons, which is 11 gallons less than a 275. If you are matching specifications across the Atlantic, that eleven-gallon gap is worth noticing.

How many 55 gallon drums equal one IBC tote?

A 275-gallon tote holds the equivalent of exactly five 55-gallon drums. A 330 holds six. It is the cleanest number in the whole category, and it makes drum-to-tote comparisons easy: 275 ÷ 55 = 5 and 330 ÷ 55 = 6.

What is an IBC tote in cubic feet?

A 275-gallon tote holds 36.8 cubic feet of liquid, and a 330 holds 44.1. The conversion is 7.481 US gallons per cubic foot. This matters when you are sizing containment bunds, which are specified by volume, or calculating how much of a room a spill would occupy.

How do I convert to oil barrels?

A US oil barrel is 42 US gallons. A 275-gallon tote is therefore 6.55 barrels and a 330 is 7.86. Note that a US liquid barrel used for non-petroleum products is 31.5 gallons, and a UK barrel is different again — always confirm which barrel somebody means before quoting against it.

Fill levels

Partial volumes, because nobody ships exactly full.

Gauge readings and partial fills, for a standard 275 gallon unit. Height is measured from the inside base of the bottle, which is what a dip stick reads.

Depths assume straight bottle walls and a 40 in fill height, so treat them as approximate; sump and corner radii change the low readings most. The headroom above nominal exists for thermal expansion — filling into it is how a tote weeps at the cap on a warm afternoon.
Fill	US gal	Litres	Approx. depth	Weight of water	Gross
10%	27.5	104	4.0 in	229 lb	364 lb
20%	55	208	8.0 in	459 lb	594 lb
25%	69	260	10.0 in	573 lb	708 lb
33%	91	344	13.2 in	757 lb	892 lb
50%	138	521	20.0 in	1,147 lb	1,282 lb
67%	184	697	26.8 in	1,537 lb	1,672 lb
75%	206	781	30.0 in	1,720 lb	1,855 lb
90%	247.5	937	36.0 in	2,064 lb	2,199 lb
100% nominal	275	1,041	40.0 in	2,294 lb	2,429 lb

Depths assume straight bottle walls and a 40 in fill height, so treat them as approximate; sump and corner radii change the low readings most. The headroom above nominal exists for thermal expansion — filling into it is how a tote weeps at the cap on a warm afternoon.

Dosing and coverage

Conversions for the people actually applying the liquid.

The arithmetic that turns a tote into an application rate. Useful for agriculture, municipal spraying and anything else measured per acre or per mile.

Rates are examples; use your own label or programme rate. Coverage assumes the full nominal volume is applied — in practice subtract whatever heel stays in the bottle, which is more on a flat-bottom unit than a sump-bottom one.
Application	Example rate	One 275 covers	One 330 covers
Liquid fertiliser, broadcast	20 gal/acre	13.8 acres	16.5 acres
Liquid fertiliser, banded	8 gal/acre	34.4 acres	41.3 acres
Fertigation, dilute	5 gal/acre	55 acres	66 acres
De-icing brine, pre-treat	40 gal/lane mile	6.9 lane miles	8.3 lane miles
Dust suppression	0.25 gal/sq yd	1,100 sq yd	1,320 sq yd
Street tree watering	15 gal/tree	18 trees	22 trees
Greenhouse irrigation	0.5 gal/plant/day	550 plant-days	660 plant-days
Livestock water, cattle	12 gal/head/day	22.9 head-days	27.5 head-days
Wash station	2 gal/use	137 uses	165 uses
Compost tea, applied	5 gal/1,000 sq ft	55,000 sq ft	66,000 sq ft

Rates are examples; use your own label or programme rate. Coverage assumes the full nominal volume is applied — in practice subtract whatever heel stays in the bottle, which is more on a flat-bottom unit than a sump-bottom one.

Containment

Bund and secondary containment sizing.

Containment rules vary by jurisdiction and by what is stored, so check current regulations. A common rule of thumb is 110% of the largest single vessel; these are the volumes that follow from it.

Areas are rounded up and assume an empty bund; anything standing in it, including the totes themselves, takes up volume. Some rules also consider the total stored or require extra capacity for rainfall, so confirm which applies to you.
Largest vessel	Volume	110% of volume	Cubic feet	Bund area at 6 in deep	Bund area at 12 in deep
120 gal tote	120 gal	132 gal	17.6 cu ft	36 sq ft	18 sq ft
180 gal tote	180 gal	198 gal	26.5 cu ft	53 sq ft	27 sq ft
220 gal tote	220 gal	242 gal	32.4 cu ft	65 sq ft	33 sq ft
275 gal tote	275 gal	302.5 gal	40.4 cu ft	81 sq ft	41 sq ft
330 gal tote	330 gal	363 gal	48.5 cu ft	98 sq ft	49 sq ft
350 gal stainless	350 gal	385 gal	51.5 cu ft	103 sq ft	52 sq ft
550 gal stainless	550 gal	605 gal	80.9 cu ft	162 sq ft	81 sq ft

Areas are rounded up and assume an empty bund; anything standing in it, including the totes themselves, takes up volume. Some rules also consider the total stored or require extra capacity for rainfall, so confirm which applies to you.

Reverse lookup

How many containers for a given volume.

The calculation people do most often, done. Counts are rounded up, because a partial tote is still a tote.

The trailer rows are the useful ones for planning a delivery. A 53-foot van has 26 floor positions, but loaded totes usually hit the payload limit first — around 18 totes of water — so a loaded order may need more than one truck well before 26 units.
Volume needed	275 gal	330 gal	220 gal	180 gal	55 gal drums
500 gal	2	2	3	3	10
1,000 gal	4	4	5	6	19
2,500 gal	10	8	12	14	46
5,000 gal	19	16	23	28	91
7,150 gal (one trailer of 275s)	26	22	33	40	130
8,580 gal (one trailer of 330s)	32	26	39	48	156
10,000 gal	37	31	46	56	182
25,000 gal	91	76	114	139	455
50,000 gal	182	152	228	278	910
100,000 gal	364	304	455	556	1,819

The trailer rows are the useful ones for planning a delivery. A 53-foot van has 26 floor positions, but loaded totes usually hit the payload limit first — around 18 totes of water — so a loaded order may need more than one truck well before 26 units.

Flow and time

How long a container takes to fill or empty.

Time = volume ÷ flow rate. These figures are for a steady pumped rate; gravity discharge slows as the level falls, and viscous product is slower again.

Vent the cap before draining. With a solid cap, gravity flow slows sharply and can stall with liquid still in the bottle.
Container	At 10 gpm	At 25 gpm	At 50 gpm
120 gal	12.0 min	4.8 min	2.4 min
180 gal	18.0 min	7.2 min	3.6 min
220 gal	22.0 min	8.8 min	4.4 min
275 gal	27.5 min	11.0 min	5.5 min
330 gal	33.0 min	13.2 min	6.6 min
350 gal stainless	35.0 min	14.0 min	7.0 min
550 gal stainless	55.0 min	22.0 min	11.0 min

Vent the cap before draining. With a solid cap, gravity flow slows sharply and can stall with liquid still in the bottle.

Keep reading

Size chartDimensions and weights for every format Weight guideSpecific gravity and equipment ratings Totes vs. drumsFive drums, one tote GlossaryTerms used across these tables