Abstract: A continuous water washing apparatus for cloth, includes first multi-layer guide rolls which pull up the cloth being processed and shift it in the horizontal direction, over the guide rolls which are provided in a staggered and opposing manner above a pre-washing tank containing a set of second multi-layer guide rolls and pressurized air blow out pipes. A water receptacle is provided for each of the first guide rolls arranged in a pair of spaced vertical columns, and a cleaning water supply mechanism is connected to the uppermost water receptacle. A sag prevention mechanism holds the cloth in a horizontally shifting manner and includes a tension detection mechanism. Further, a shifting speed detection mechanism is provided for the cloth, and includes a cloth width detection mechanism and a water filling up volume adjusting mechanism for the water receptacles operated by the cloth width detection mechanism.