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An early warning system is important to guarantee human health and ecological safety. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) sensor can achieve a self-sustainable monitoring without additional transducer or power sources. It would not limited by the main bottleneck of other contemporary MFC technologies, i.e., the low current density output, and is believed one of the most promising applications in the niche market of MFC technologies. This review is limited to MFC sensors for water quality early warning systems only, with emphasis on biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and toxicity sensors. A comprehensive summary and discussion on sensor fabrication, operation, data representation, and optimization are provided. The MFC sensor is particularly promising to serve as a self-powered sensing device for in-situ and on-line environmental monitoring, as proved both in laboratory and field test. In addition, the main hurdles and …