liters per second to liters per minute

Fire hydrants, storm drains, and high-capacity pumps are rated in liters per second — the unit that keeps emergency flows in two digits — while the pumps feeding them are sized in liters per minute. The conversion is the cleanest in the flow family: exactly 60, because a minute has 60 seconds and nothing else is involved. A 4 L/s hydrant flows 240 L/min; a 100 L/s storm pump is 6,000 L/min.

1 liter per second = 60 liters per minute, and 1 liter per minute = 0.01666667 liters per second. The conversion is a single fixed factor: multiply L/s by 60. Worked: 10 L/s = 600 L/min; 100 L/s = 6,000 L/min.

By EnginStack Editorial Team | Reviewed against NIST, BIPM and primary-source documentation About →
liters per second
240 liters per minute
4 liters per second = 240 liters per minute 4 liters per minute = 0.06666667 liters per second

Verified against NIST Special Publication 811 and BIPM SI definitions. The conversion factor is exact and traceable to the 1959 treaty constants.

liters per second to liters per minute

L/s and L/min are the same unit family at two time scales — one liter per second is 60 liters per minute by definition, with no volume constant involved at all. The factor is exact because it is the number of seconds in a minute. High-flow civil engineering (hydrants, stormwater, canal feeds) prefers L/s for readability, while process and pump work stays in L/min; the conversion between them is a decimal move that never needs a calculator, though this one is here for the reverse direction's repeating decimal.

liters per minute = liters per second × 60
1 L/s = 60 L/min — 60 seconds per minute
The factor is exact by definition.

Worked Examples

Example 1: Convert a 2.5 L/s circulation rate

2.5 × 60 = 150 L/min

Example 2: Convert a 15 L/s storm drain design flow

15 × 60 = 900 L/min

Example 3: Convert a 0.5 L/s laboratory supply

0.5 × 60 = 30 L/min

Common liters per second to liters per minute Conversions

liters per secondliters per minuteContext
1 L/s60 L/minThe definitional anchor.
4 L/s240 L/minA fire hydrant's flow.
10 L/s600 L/minA storm drain design flow.
50 L/s3,000 L/minA high-capacity fire pump.
100 L/s6,000 L/minA municipal storm pump.

Engineering Context

This page is pure time conversion — the volume is the same liter on both sides, so its only anchor is the time family's minute. The L/min to L/s page runs it backward, and the flow rate hub collects the full family. Fire flows also connect to the pressure hub, since hydrant performance is a flow-versus-pressure curve.

The split here is disciplinary rather than national. Hydrology and drainage design work in liters per second, because catchment runoff is generated by rainfall intensity in millimeters per hour over an area in hectares, and that arithmetic lands naturally in L/s. Water treatment, HVAC and process work in liters per minute, because equipment is specified in those units and the time constant of the control loop is a minute. A single site can have both: a stormwater design in L/s feeding a treatment train rated in L/min, with the conversion sitting between two consultants who each think their unit is the obvious one.

More: L/min to L/s · L/s to L/min · L/min to GPM · Flow Rate Guide · Flow Rate Hub

Related Unit Converters

liters per minute to liters per second liters per minute to US gallons per minute Time Converters Flow Rate Conversion Guide Flow Rate Converters

Frequently Asked Questions

How many L/min is 1 L/s?

Exactly 60. The factor is the number of seconds in a minute — a definition, not a measured constant.

Why use L/s for fire flows instead of L/min?

Because emergency flows are easier to read in two digits: a hydrant at 4 L/s is 240 L/min. Civil and fire codes quote the L/s figure, while the pump world thinks in L/min — hence the daily conversion.

What is 1 L/s in GPM?

Exactly 15.8503231415 US GPM. It chains the ×60 to the gallon factor: 60 L/min × 0.2641720524 GPM per L/min. For a rough number, 1 L/s ≈ 15.85 GPM.