The project to replace lead and galvanized water service lines in Allentown received a huge boost from the state.

LCA WaterWorks — the new public-facing name of the Lehigh County Authority — announced Thursday that it is closing on $15.44 million in funding through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. It includes an $8.2 million grant that will “help reduce the financial impact of this critical public health investment on city water customers,” the utility said.

The funds will go toward replacing about 1,000 lead service lines along with investigating unknown service line materials. It is the next phase of the LCA’s campaign to reduce lead exposure and boost its drinking water infrastructure in and around Allentown.

The announcement at LCA’s headquarters in Lower Macungie Township coincided with Imagine a Day Without Water, a national observance highlighting the essential role water infrastructure plays in public health, environmental protection, economic activity and everyday life.

In front of authority workers and Lehigh Valley officials, CEO Liesel Gross unveiled the new name, emphasizing that the name change will help with the process of replacing those old water lines in the city and some surrounding communities served by LCA.

“How are we going to replace the thousand pipes in Allentown? It’s going to be one property at a time, one customer conversation at a time,” Gross said.

She said LCA workers will be going door-to-door, and being from the “WaterWorks” will help them relate better to customers. In the past, Gross added, the LCA has been mistaken as the agency that provides general public works services, tax collection, parking enforcement or even corrections.

“We serve individual residents,” Gross said. “We serve small commercial businesses. We serve large industries. We serve schools, and everyone needs water, and that really helps to shape the focus of our brand refresh. Incorporating ‘works’ — WaterWorks — into the brand is really important, too.”

The project to replace the lead pipes is ongoing and part of a 10-year strategy, Gross said, noting that the final cost is yet to be determined.

So far, about 1,200 service lines have been replaced out of an estimated 3,500, though many more may be identified in the future.

The LCA is keeping costs down by conducting systematic street-by-street work in designated neighborhoods rather than isolated, single-home replacements.

Customers will receive advance notice about the service line replacement process. During construction, LCA said it will coordinate with contractors and property owners to minimize disruption.

More information about LCA’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program, including a searchable map allowing customers to check the status of their service line, is available at lehighcountyauthority.org/leadfree.

The LCA took over Allentown’s water system in 2013 for a $220 million, 50-year lease as the city needed funds for its pension system.

“In terms of Allentown, we just talked about the failing system that they had,” Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tony Iannelli said, “and LCA acquired that system, not because it was a good financial move, but because it was the right thing to do for the community.”

Amir Famili, chair of the LCA Board, said with recent multibillion dollar business investments coming into the Lehigh Valley with Eli Lilly and Chobani, the topic of water has been coming to the forefront after being an afterthought for years.

“When the customer turns on the tap, the clean water would flow,” Famili said. “When they flush the toilet, the waste disappears. To the average household, we are essentially invisible, until something goes wrong and they see the monthly or quarterly bills.

“Our current brand belonged to the past,” he said. “It represented an era where a utility was just pipes in the ground. Today we are much more than that. We are environmental stewards. We are public health protectors. We are the backbone of this local community.”

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.