....the wire bail handle that is attached to the bucket body allows you to tie on a rope and toss it out to get water and then haul it in.  Attaching a handle to the lid'd eliminate a lot of usefulness. -holes drilled into the body sabotage the  air tightness.   I'm sure the wire handle could be clipped off a few inches from the body and worked/wiggled out of that ''flange'' that holds it on both sides. With a little "engineering" I'm sure an eyelet, or something could be  screwed or bolted, or epoxied or some combination thereof, to each side...and a rope attached.   Maybe a rope harness. Keep in mind that water is heavy and that buckets get tossed around and generally abused...ruggedness is essential.