Assessment of Contamination along the Tigris River from Tharthar-Tigris Canal to Azizziyah, Middle of Iraq
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript “water-1636924” aims to assess the water quality of the Tigris River along the Tigris River from Tharthar-Tigris canal to Azizziyah, middle of Iraq, for the period 2005-2020, taking into consideration the salinity, the major ions, the trace elements (Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, Fe, and Cr) and biological parameters .
The manuscript appear not well structured. A strong data discussion, as well as a description of occurring processes is missing.
I believe the manuscript should be published only after major revision.
Comments
Something about water treatment methods should be added in the introduction, see for example:
Vardhan, K. H., Kumar, P. S., & Panda, R. C. (2019). A review on heavy metal pollution, toxicity and remedial measures: Current trends and future perspectives. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 290, 111197.
Fuoco, I., Figoli, A., Criscuoli, A., Brozzo, G., De Rosa, R., Gabriele, B. and Apollaro, C., 2020. Geochemical modeling of chromium release in natural waters and treatment by RO/NF membrane processes. Chemosphere, 254, p.126696.
Is completely absent a geological description. Furthermore should be added a geological map with highlighted the major tectonic features
It is not reported any data regarding analysis accuracy and precision. It is recommended to add this information
To evaluate the chemical composition of the water, at least two triangular diagrams (anions and cations) and a TIS salinity diagram should be used, as proposed by:
Apollaro, C., Di Curzio, D., Fuoco, I., Buccianti, A., Dinelli, E., Vespasiano, G., ... & De Rosa, R. (2022). A multivariate non-parametric approach for estimating probability of exceeding the local natural background level of arsenic in the aquifers of Calabria region (Southern Italy). Science of The Total Environment, 806, 150345.
The origin of the chemical elements should be discussed with element vs element binary diagrams (in moles / L or meq / L), calculating saturation indices, etc. see for example
Zhang, B., Zhao, D., Zhou, P., Qu, S., Liao, F. and Wang, G., 2020. Hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater and dominant water–rock interactions in the Delingha Area, Qaidam Basin, Northwest China. Water, 12(3), p.836.
There are a lot of errors in the text. You can even find numbers in the middle of words. Check everything very carefully
Discussions and conclusions need to be rewritten taking into account previous comments
Recommended works must be added in the bibliography
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
I hope you find well.
Thank you very much for your useful comments and suggestions on our manuscript. We have modified the manuscript accordingly, and detailed corrections are listed below point
by point in the attachment file.
Many thanks and Best Regards.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This manuscript conducts an interesting experiment. However, the authors still need to make major revisions in the content and structure. The author should discuss/answer the following questions: (The following questions are highlighted in yellow in the manuscript.)
- Lines 119-124, "Four sites were chosen these are tharthar-Tigris canal, Baghdad, Diyala River conjunction with the Tigris River, and al-Azizziyah (NCWRM,2021) "Please briefly describe the basis for selecting the four regions and explain the differences or particularities of the four regions from the rest.
2. Lines 126-132, please describe the formulas and principles of data processing. At the same time, the reasons for choosing treatment methods and previous studies are explained. - The analysis content of the article is less, and only the data are enumerated or analyzed in general. The analysis part is not detailed or specific enough. Example: Lines 208-210, "The increase of K+ concentration is due to applying of chemical fertilizers in agriculture lands which lead to increase its concentration in addition to nature of land's area." what are the differences between the use of chemical fertilizers in other agricultural areas and this area? What are the specific land properties? Please analyze the contents.
- What new research methods are used in this paper? How to embody the innovation?
- This paper establishes four indexes (salinity, trace elements, main ions and biological parameters), but the factor analysis method is divided into two factors. Please explain the reasons.
- This paper selects four research sites, but the dominant factor analysis of the four research sites is missing, and only the dominant factors of the whole basin are given, which is relatively general.
- The concentration range of each index in the conclusion. Please explain the time period when the concentration is high and the reasons for the high index concentration in this time period.
- The font size and line spacing of the text section should be adjusted to maintain consistency.
- The font size and line spacing of the text section should be adjusted to maintain consistency.
Comments for author File: Comments.zip
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
I hope you find well.
Thank you very much for your useful comments and suggestions on our manuscript. We have modified the manuscript accordingly, and detailed corrections are listed below point
by point in the attachment file.
Many thanks and Best Regards.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Although the work has improved, no response has been given to several comments! Therefore I propose them again otherwise, in my opinion, the work will not be accepted:
Comments
Something about water treatment methods should be added in the introduction, see for example:
Fuoco, I., Figoli, A., Criscuoli, A., Brozzo, G., De Rosa, R., Gabriele, B. and Apollaro, C., 2020. Geochemical modeling of chromium release in natural waters and treatment by RO/NF membrane processes. Chemosphere, 254, p.126696.
To evaluate the chemical composition of the water, a TIS salinity diagram should be used, as proposed by:
Apollaro, C., Di Curzio, D., Fuoco, I., Buccianti, A., Dinelli, E., Vespasiano, G., ... & De Rosa, R. (2022). A multivariate non-parametric approach for estimating probability of exceeding the local natural background level of arsenic in the aquifers of Calabria region (Southern Italy). Science of The Total Environment, 806, 150345.
Discussions and conclusions need to be rewritten taking into account previous comments
Recommended works must be added in the bibliography
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Have a nice day,
Thank you very much again for your useful comments and suggestions on the manuscript. We have modified the manuscript accordingly, and detailed corrections are listed below point by point, we so apologize for these mistakes.
Many thanks and Best regards.
Alyaa Shakir Oleiwi,
Ph.D. student/ University of Baghdad.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
There is no recommendation for this version
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
Have a nice day,
Thank you very much again for your useful comments and suggestions on the manuscript. We have modified the manuscript accordingly, and detailed corrections are listed below point by point, we so apologize for these mistakes.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
