Climate Change Mitigation Tool Implemented through an Integrated and Resilient System to Measure and Monitor Operating Variables, Applied to Natural Wastewater Treatment Systems (NTSW) in Livestock Farms

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This study is to propose a methodology for improving the operation of Natural Treatment System for Wastewater (NTSW), associated with small and medium-sized livestock farms, in insular and isolated systems such as the Canary Islands. It is very interesting and suitable for publication on Water journal. However, it needs to be revised before accepted for publication. The comments are as follows:

1.      Most figures are not indexed and explained in manuscript. Please revise them.

2.      The quality of Fig. 10 needs to be improved.

3.      What is the novelty of this study? Please describe it in conclusion.

Author Response

Thank you for taking the time to revise this paper. All suggestions have been considered and the corresponding changes are now included in the manuscript. We have reviewed the entire article, trying to improve its readability and comprehension. Below are the point-by-point responses to each suggestion.

1. Most figures are not indexed and explained in manuscript. Please revise them.

Response: All figures have been explained and indexed in the text.

2. The quality of Fig. 10 needs to be improved.

Response. The quality of figure 10 has been improved. The quality of other figures has also been improved.

3. What is the novelty of this study? Please describe it in conclusion.

Response. The innovative characteristics of the system proposed in this article have been described in the conclusion.

“The application of this novel system as a climate change mitigation tool in these livestock farms can improve the control of the AD and NTSW process applied to manure, favoring the reduction of its high contaminant load”.

We believe that the resubmitted paper has been substantially improved and hope that it now meets Journal quality and publication standards.

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors investigated monitor operating variables according to the climate change mitigation tool measured in natural wastewater treatment systems to safeguard public health. The appropriate adsorbent and methods are always welcome in removing the toxic pollutants based on the selectivity and sensitivity parameters. Some important points are important to be addressed before going to consider the possible publication in this journal.

-The English language needs to check carefully in the revision stage because of many careless mistakes in many positions.

-The Figures quality needs to be improved in the revision stage.

-References: There are many references that are not adjacent to this study. The authors need to take notes in the revision stage and cite relevant references including high-impact journals to make the manuscript to a broad range of readers.

-Abstract: This section needs to be improved by presenting novel findings such as investigating the divers metal ions effect, and the main experimental works in the revision stage.

-Introduction: Composite materials are growing attention for diverse uses based on their specific functionality and surface area as reported by Awual group according to ScienceDirect. The authors need to indicate such points for a broad range of readers. Moreover, the authors need to cite high-impact articles to make the manuscript high-level. The following specific articles may take be noted in the revision stage of Journal of Molecular Liquids, 338 (2021) 116667; Molecules, 27 (2022) 1275.

-Scientists considered the removal technology based on selectivity, sensitivity, cost-effectiveness, and so on. The authors need to indicate such a point in the revised manuscript.

-The materials characterization is not accurate. The morphology needs to be added and then compared with reported materials including Journal of Environmental Management, 300 (2021) 113782.

I would like to see the revised manuscript.

Author Response

Thank you for the work of reviewing the document and making modification recommendations to improve it and obtain a better result. We think that the major changes introduced have brought about a much better manuscript, providing new insights into this area, and in our opinion the paper has been improved significantly.

1. The English language needs to check carefully in the revision stage because of many careless mistakes in many positions.

Response: The article has been proofread by a professional native translator, trying to improve its readability and comprehension.

2. The Figures quality needs to be improved in the revision stage.

Response: The Figures quality has been edited to improve viewing.

3. References: There are many references that are not adjacent to this study. The authors need to take notes in the revision stage and cite relevant references including high-impact journals to make the manuscript to a broad range of readers.

Response: References have been carefully reviewed and some that are not adjacent to this study have been removed. Following the given recommendation, we have added relevant references, included cites of Awual group high impact articles.

4. Abstract: This section needs to be improved by presenting novel findings such as investigating the divers metal ions effect, and the main experimental works in the revision stage.

Response: Information has been added to better expose novel finding:

“Satisfactory results were obtained for several parameters (ambient temperature, relative humidity, UV radiation, atmospheric pressure). It is presented as a novel proposal based mainly on low-cost technology and mainly free software, with which to improve the NTSW operation process”.

5. Introduction: Composite materials are growing attention for diverse uses based on their specific functionality and surface area as reported by Awual group according to ScienceDirect. The authors need to indicate such points for a broad range of readers. Moreover, the authors need to cite high-impact articles to make the manuscript high-level. The following specific articles may take be noted in the revision stage of Journal of Molecular Liquids, 338 (2021) 116667; Molecules, 27 (2022) 1275.

Response: Following indications, the points mentioned, and the specific articles recommended have been added, from line 53 to 56:

“In recent years, various materials and components have been proposed for wastewater treatment, composite materials are gaining attention for various uses including wastewater treatment due to their specific functionality, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency like articles reported by Awual group”

6. Scientists considered the removal technology based on selectivity, sensitivity, cost-effectiveness, and so on. The authors need to indicate such a point in the revised manuscript.

Response: Following the recommendations, it has been stated that the removal technology developed in this article is based on selectivity, sensitivity, and cost-effectiveness as similar studies. Relevant references have been added.

Awual, M. R. (2016). Ring size dependent crown ether based mesoporous adsorbent for high cesium adsorption from wastewater. Chemical Engineering Journal, 303, 539–546. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEJ.2016.06.040

Awual, M. R. (2016). Solid phase sensitive palladium (II) ions detection and recovery using ligand based efficient conjugate nanomaterials. Chemical Engineering Journal, 300, 264–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEJ.2016.04.071

Awual, M. R. (2016). Assessing of lead(III) capturing from contaminated wastewater using ligand doped conjugate adsorbent. Chemical Engineering Journal, 289, 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEJ.2015.12.078

Awual, M. R. (2015). A novel facial composite adsorbent for enhanced copper(II) detection and removal from wastewater. Chemical Engineering Journal, 266, 368–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEJ.2014.12.094

Awual, M. R. (2014). Investigation of potential conjugate adsorbent for efficient ultra-trace gold (III) detection and recovery. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 20(5), 3493–3501. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JIEC.2013.12.040

The materials characterization is not accurate. The morphology needs to be added and then compared with reported materials including Journal of Environmental Management, 300 (2021) 113782.

Response: Morphology has been added and compared with diverse studies including Journal of Environmental Management, 300 (2021) 113782.

Line 62: [6,11–15]. In recent years, various materials and components have been proposed for wastewater treatment, composite materials are gaining attention for various uses in-cluding wastewater treatment due to their specific functionality, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency like articles reported by Awual group [10,16,17,17–19]. These studies have investigated materials such as bamboo, which have suitable characteristics and morphology for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater.

Line163: Wetland plants can improve water quality through the uptake of nutrients, metals and other contaminants. The distribution and morphological characteristics of the roots, and the efficiency of contamination removal will depend on the type of plants used. In [57] bamboo was used to achieve efficient encapsulation of toxic copper thanks to its porous structure, larger surface area, thermal stability, and governable morphology.

Kubra, K. T., Salman, M. S., Hasan, M. N., Islam, A., Teo, S. H., Hasan, M. M., Sheikh, M. C., & Awual, M. R. (2021). Sustainable detection and capturing of cerium(III) using ligand embedded solid-state conjugate adsorbent. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 338, 116667. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MOLLIQ.2021.116667

Awual, M. R. (2017). New type mesoporous conjugate material for selective optical copper(II) ions monitoring & removal from polluted waters. Chemical Engineering Journal, 307, 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEJ.2016.07.110

Awual, M. R. (2017). Novel nanocomposite materials for efficient and selective mercury ions capturing from wastewater. Chemical Engineering Journal, 307, 456–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEJ.2016.08.108

Awual, M. R. (2019). Efficient phosphate removal from water for controlling eutrophication using novel composite adsorbent. Journal of Cleaner Production, 228, 1311–1319. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2019.04.325

Awual, M. R. (2019). Innovative composite material for efficient and highly selective Pb(II) ion capturing from wastewater. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 284, 502–510. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MOLLIQ.2019.03.157

Awual, M. R. (2017). Novel nanocomposite materials for efficient and selective mercury ions capturing from wastewater. Chemical Engineering Journal, 307, 456–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CEJ.2016.08.108

We believe that the resubmitted paper has been substantially improved and hope that it now meets Journal quality and publication standards.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

This manuscript has been revised and replied according to my previous comments. It could be accepted for publication in Water.