Ensuring communities in urban and rural areas have access to safe water is essential for their living standards and socio-economic development. This PhD study, focusing on developing a remote, real-time, early-warning water quality monitoring system, offers a significant step towards reaching this goal. The research conducted in this study involved producing a comprehensive review of the literature on water quality management, conducting laboratory experiments to gather data for developing robust models for sensor applications, applying developed models and envisioning a preliminary sensor system design. The research assessed the current gaps in real-time water monitoring for the faecal indicator bacteria (FIB), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and enterococci. While recent studies identified the potential of using specific fluorescence regions for FIB monitoring, achieving sufficient accuracy necessitates site-specific calibration due to minor variations in fluorescence peak locations. Currently, near real-time monitoring of FIB in waters is not feasible, and the more promising monitoring methods require traditional field sampling and laboratory testing that hinder decision-making within a relevant timeframe. However, fluorescence monitoring shows the most promise if fluorescence quenching, the inner filter effect (IFE) and typical interferences are identified or removed, i.e. environmental interferences affecting specificity and sensitivity. These findings offer practical implications and trigger interest in PhD research activities developing remote, real-time water monitoring systems for FIB detection, providing a potential solution to the current challenges in water quality management.