Waterborne pathogenic bacteria contamination can cause various diseases, seriously endangering human health and public health security. Waterborne pathogen detection is important to human health care, water safety and disease diagnosis. Conventional waterborne pathogen detection techniques, such as artificial culture, molecular biology and immunology, are accurate and effective, but sample pre-treatment is cumbersome and time-consuming, not conducive to real-time online detection of pathogenic bacteria. Spectral detection technology to non-invasive access to pathogenic bacteria emission, scattering or absorption spectral characteristics, able to determine the nature, structure and content of pathogenic bacteria and other information. Due to the advantages of easy operation, rapidity, portability, non-destructiveness and ease of real-time monitoring, this technique has many application prospects in environmental monitoring and bioanalysis. The article introduces the existing waterborne pathogen detection techniques and their advantages and disadvantages, points out the necessity of rapid and efficient detection of pathogenic bacteria; discusses the principles of spectroscopic detection techniques and data analysis methods, focusing on the working principles and research progress of UV/Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and terahertz spectroscopy in the detection of waterborne pathogenic bacteria; finally summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. The challenges and strategies for the practical application of spectroscopic techniques in detecting pathogenic bacteria are presented to provide a reference for further development of rapid detection of waterborne pathogens based on spectroscopic techniques.