Based on the current optical fiber sensing technology, the study and applications of optical fiber sensing technology under different optical principles of water quality monitoring, such as the Hydrogen ion concentration (pH) value, chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen and heavy metal ion contaminants, are presented. The research status of the past 10 years as well as the advantages and disadvantages of fiber optical technology for water quality monitoring based on different principles is described. At last, the development trends of fiber optical technology for water quality are analyzed and forecasted, which provides the technical ideas for the further water quality monitoring.