The automated device adapts an established enzyme assay bacteria bioburden determination manual method to an automated device. Water supplied to the device is collected and filtered to capture planktonic bacteria and particle-associated bacteria (PAB’s). The filter is subsequently saturated with a fluorescent-labelled enzyme substrate which reacts with a naturally occurring enzyme activity in living bacteria. A fluorescent compound is released and after extraction, the fluorescence is measured with a fluorometer. The enzyme activity is adjusted for temperature, reaction time and sample volume according to a supplier algorithm and used as a proxy for the bacterial bioburden in a water sample. The device supports remote data collection and remote operation and can process up to twelve samples in 24 hours. The study demonstrates that results from the manual method and automated device are very similar. The study also demonstrated good reproducibility between multiple devices. Installation and long-term operation of the device were also demonstrated on different water types, a with high medium and low biological loads. While more testing and validation are needed, the device proved to be reliable and repeatable for clear seawater and potable water applications producing results as fast as 12 samples in 24 hours while needing regular maintenance to replace analysis chemistry after every 50-analysis run.