Made by The Commonwealth Film Unit 1962, the lifeline referred to in the title of this film is the seventy-two inch steel pipe line which carries water fifty miles from Mannum on the Murray to the city's reservoirs in the Mt Lofty Ranges. Before the building of this pipe line Adelaide's water supply from the original dams was insufficient, and the city suffered from seasonal water shortages. Water from the Murray River now provides an adequate all year water supply for the city. Without access to this supply modern city and industrial life would be impossible for Adelaide, Australia's driest capital city.