Busselton Water has stepped up testing to maintain water quality as tens of thousands of tourists flock to the city for the summer.

The holiday population increase of up to 40,000 people, coupled with summer watering for gardens, increases water consumption to an average 16 million litres a day during the period.

Busselton Water acting chief executive Geoff Oddy said this could cause water quality issues.

“It’s not uncommon at this time of year for water suppliers to experience problems, such as discolouration, because there’s so much more water flowing through the pipelines,” he said.

Mr Oddy said Busselton Water was being proactive in response by introducing extra testing for any displaced sediment across the 301km pipeline network.

“If there’s any unwanted activity we’ll detect it as early as possible and carry out targeted flushing to remove it quickly,” he said.

Busselton Water has also announced former Water Corporation regional business manager for the South West Chris Elliot as their new chief executive.