An approach for measuring three-dimensional (3D) volume scattering function (VSF) of suspended particles in water is proposed, in which one can simultaneously obtain the VSFs of several scattering planes in the hemisphere space by using the detection method of parabolic mirrors combining with sensors. The 3D VSF measuring device is constructed. With the standard polystyrene particles with diameters of 57-954 nm as samples, the VSFs of the suspended particles in water are obtained, which are in multiple scattering planes corresponding to azimuthal angles of 0°-180°. The detectable scattering angle is in the range of 18°-160°. The experimental results agree with the simulated ones, which verifies the feasibility to detect the VSFs of suspended particles with diameter less than 1 μm in water by this device.