High concentration of nitrate ion in water bodies are considered as public health concern globally, which may cause blue baby syndromes, diabetes, stomach cancer because it produces N-nitroso compounds which are potent carcinogens. Most of the detection techniques are expensive, require trained person and large sample volume. The aim of this study was to develop microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (Î¼PADs) using wax screen-printing technique for the determination of nitrite and nitrate ion in water samples, which is low cost, simple and fast. Nitrite is determined directly by the Griess reaction while nitrate is first reduced to nitrite by zinc powder. Î¼PADs parameters such as sample volume, Griess reagent volume, color development time and Zinc powder loading were optimized and optimal values were found to be 5 Î¼L, 1 Î¼L, 10 minutes and 25 mg, respectively. Under optimal condition, the limits of detection for nitrite and nitrate ion were found to be 0.16 and 0.87 ppm, respectively. This level of sensitivity observed in Î¼PAD is adequate to determine the threshold concentration of nitrite (1 ppm) and nitrate (50 ppm) in drinking water set by WHO. Recovery test using the fabricated Î¼PAD on spiked tap water revealed more than 95% recovery for both target analytes. It was comparable with the recovery obtained by using the standard method UV-vis (> 96%) which indicates the validity of the developed method. Furthermore, the application of Î¼PADs for the analysis of nitrite and nitrate in Dire Dawa ground water samples showed below detection limit and 70.5 ppm, respectively. The concentration measured using Î¼PADs were in an excellent agreement with the values obtained from UV-Visible spectrophotometry. This implies potential use the Î¼PADs for environmental monitoring of nitrate and nitrite in resources limited areas without need for expensive benchtop analytical devices.