Our project is nested in the water-food-energy nexus. Water quality monitoring is crucial, especially in communities dealing with water scarcity. However, current state-of-the-art systems are expensive and complex, thus unsuitable for developing countries and enthusiasts. Our innovation offers a modular, accessible, and affordable solution. We developed a water control and monitoring unit combining the ESP-32 and Raspberry Pi microcontrollers with cloud-based databases, using well-established frameworks and industry-standard MQTT IoT protocols to ensure reliable communications and management of sensors. The system is intuitive for end-users and can be easily customized by adding sensors and switches. By using free, open-source software and custom hardware, we significantly reduced costs, making water monitoring more attainable and sustainable for communities passionate about environmental stewardship.