Impacts of Chosen Parameters on Fe-Dependent Nitrate Reduction in Anammox Consortia: Performance and Bioactivity
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments to the Authors
This paper addresses anammox technology, which is one of the novel biological nutrient removal processes. The authors used response surface method (RSM) and investigated the effects of temperature, pH and Fe/NO3-N ratio on nitrogen removal performance. This manuscript describes some interesting findings but the following concerns needs to be addressed by the authors before considering for publication.
The manuscript needs thorough editing of English language and style. I have highlighted some of the mistakes that I came across (please see the attached manuscript-mistakes highlighted in yellow).
Major comments
- The manuscript needs thorough editing of English language and style. I have highlighted some of the mistakes that I came across (see the attached manuscript-highlighted in yellow). I suggest a revision to make sure that the paper is free of grammatical and other related errors.
- Short description of the annamox sludge source is required in the material and methods section
- Selection of maximum and minimum values for temperature, pH and Fe/NO3-N ratio in the experimental design should be justifed
- The R2 values mentioned in the manuscript look suspicious (0.9883 for NRE model and 0.9665 for TNRE model)
Other Comments
- Materials and Methods
Line 78: Model no, country... is required for the shaker. The same applies to water bath oscillator (Line 118)
Line 102: How are the maximum and minimum levels of each parameter selected? The selection should be supported by literature.
- Results
Table 1: ZVI is not described in the methodology section. It can be described in a footnote. The author may be referring to zero valent iron.
Figure 2:
Put R2 values for each graph.
Units (%) should be mentioned in the axes.
The points on the graph have different colors. So a legend is required to explain.
- Discussion
Line 314: Higher pH damages microorganisms activity……. How high? Please put numbers
Lines 245-246: Is it not possible to provide specific optimal values for each variables instead of the range?
Lines 248-249: How are the value selected from the optimal range depicted? Did you use real wastewater and conducted an experiment at the optimal operating conditions?
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
The point-by-point response to the reviewer’s commentswas uploaded as a PDF file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The results of the research presented by the authors in “Discrepant impacts of temperature, pH and Fe/NO3-N 2 ratio on Fe-dependent nitrate reduction in anammox 3 consortia: performance and bio-activity” are complex, verified are universal in application.
Title: Consider changing the title into: Impacts of chosen parameters on Fe-dependent nitrate reduction in anammox consortia: performance and bio-activity
Key words: Consider changing key words into: Anammox; Nitrogen removal, Fe-dependent nitrate reduction; Temperature and Fe/NO3-N ratio; Enzyme activity; Gene expression
Introduction: Due to high quality research you presented in the paper I suggest to bring more information
Matherials and Methods - Line 69-70 please describe clearly: “For model verification, the wastewater produced by semiconductor process was obtained from a 69 local polysilicon production plant”
Results : Table 1 and figure 1 - Please change “Run” into “Series” or “Batch test”
Conclusions: should be significantly extended. I suggest to bring much more detailed results. Just take a look at your abstract.
Author Response
The point-by-point response to the reviewer’s commentswas uploaded as a PDF file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This paper is well written with a good flow of writing, structure, and proper references. I suggest minor revision before publication.
Line 23: it is better to write the optimum condition not "combination".
The introduction is too short. The authors should add some discussion regarding different parameters that have been used for optimization in this study. How they affect the nitrogen removal in whole the optimization process?
Line 47 -54 needs to be cited. Do not write any information without referencing.
Conclusion section: The aim of study can be added as the first line before describing you results. Do you have any suggestions for future studies in this field? how your results improved the existing knowledge in this field?
Author Response
The point-by-point response to the reviewer’s comments was uploaded as a PDF file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
