How Many Liters Are in a Gallon of Water?

A gallon is the unit measurements for liquid capacity. It is mostly used in US customary and British imperial systems of measurements.

So, how many liters are in a gallon of water? Well, the answer to this question depends on whether you’re speaking of the British Imperial gallon or the US customary gallon.

The US gallon is approximately 3.785 liters, while the imperial gallon houses 4.54 liters.

The US gallon is common in the United States of America and Latin America, and the imperial gallon in Commonwealth states and Caribbean nations.

Still curious about liters and gallons? Read on to understand the different types as well as how to convert liters into gallons.

What is a Liter?

A liter is simply a unit of volume in the international system of measurement. And the volume of a liter equals 1 cubic decimeters.

Originally, liters were defined as the volume of 1 kilogram of standard pressure and peak density. And until 1964, the kg was defined as the mass held by a specific platinum cylinder.

The intention was for the kilogram’s mass to be equal to that of 1 liter of water and at standard pressure.

Later, it was found that the measurements of the kilogram cylinder were too large. This led to the redefining of the kilogram to the current definition.

Liters are generally used to measure the volume of all items that conform to the size of a container. They include fluids and tiny solids that you can pour from a container to another.

You can also use liters to calculate density.

And while liters aren’t recognized by ISM (International system of measurements), they have accepted it for calculations alongside other SI units. It’s thanks to this that you can use SI prefixes with liters.

One of the most commonly used units is the milliliter, a one-thousandth of a liter. Others include the hectoliter, decaliter, kiloliter, and megaliter.

What is a Gallon?

A gallon is a unit measurement of fluids commonly used in the British imperial system and the US customary units of measurements.

And as aforementioned, the 2 gallons feature different accepted volumes.

The Imperial Gallon

The imperial gallon is equal to 4.54 liters, and the US gallon is equivalent to 3.785 liters. It is divided into 4 quarts, and each part consists of 2 pints.

Each pint has 20 imperial fluid ounces.

Although the liter is used by most of the world for volume calculations, the UK, Canada, and a few nations in the Caribbeans use the Imperial gallon.

The imperial gallon is used as the unit of measurement in the Bahamas, Dominica, Antigua, Ramada, the British Virgin Islands, among other countries.

The US Liquid Gallon

The US liquid gallon has approximately 3.785 liters. It is 16.6 percent lighter than the imperial gallon, but it’s divided into 4 quarts, just like the Imperial gallon.

These quarts are then divided into 2 pints of 16 US fluid ounces each.

This gallon is used as a unit of measurement in countries like Columbia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Belize, Peru, among others. This gallon is mainly used to sell gasoline.

The US Dry Gallon

The US dry gallon is commonly used to measure dry goods. It equals an eighth of the Winchester bushel of approximately 2150.42 cubic inches or 4.41 liters.

This dry gallon is rarely used in business.

Converting Gallons to Liters

Now that liters and gallons are units of measurement, it is easy to convert one to the other. When doing the conversions, one thing to keep in mind is the type of gallon you’re dealing with.

Remember, there are 2 gallons, the American and the British gallon. The two have different weights meaning that using the wrong gallon will give you inaccurate measurements.

You, therefore, need to ensure that you’re working with the right gallon. Approximately there are 4 liters in a gallon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

So, there you have it-how many liters are in a gallon of water? 1 US fluid gallon has 3.785 liters while a gallon of US dry gallon has 4.40 liters.

A British imperial gallon has 4.54 liters.

And now that you know the number of liters in a given gallon of water, you should be able to find the number of liters in a given number of gallons, right?