by Matt Rocheleau, originally posted on April 7, 2016

The City of Boston will give property owners up to $2,000 and four years of no-interest financing to help them replace water lines at their homes or businesses that may be leaching harmful lead into drinking water.

More than 5,000 properties in the city are connected to water mains in the street by lead service lines, city officials said.

Replacing such lines typically costs between $2,500 and $3,000 in Boston, officials said. The amount depends on the length of the line.

“It is our hope that residents will take advantage of this program to replace lead water service [lines] at their property to help us move the City of Boston towards a safer housing stock and a healthier city,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said Thursday in a statement