Protecting and maintaining the quality of environmental waters is of increasing importance as available water resources continues to decline. In this context, our ability to effectively monitor the aquatic environment is essential. Microfluidic technology has potential as a solution to the increasing demand for environmental monitoring; through minimisation of reagents and power consumption. These efforts will lead to the development of compact autonomous instruments for in situ continuous monitoring. Our approach is to combine microfluidic technology with colorimetric chemical assays; low cost LED/photodiode-based optical detection systems; and wireless communications. Developing low cost systems providing high-frequency data on key water quality parameters.