Nitrate and/or Nitric Acid Formation in the Presence of Different Radical Scavengers during Ozonation of Water Samples; Are Scavengers Effective?
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
this manuscript is acceptable in this form
Author Response
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to revise and resubmit our article. Thank you for your feedback and valuable comments on this occasion.
Reviewer 2 Report
Detailed comments:
1. The English of the text should be checked
2. The novelty of the manuscript is complete missing
3. Please eliminate multiple references. After that, please check the manuscript thoroughly and eliminate ALL the lumps in the manuscript. This should be done by characterizing each reference individually and by mentioning 1 or 2 phrases per reference to show how it is different from the others and why it deserves mentioning. Multiple references are of no use for a reader and can substitute even a kind of plagiarism, as sometimes authors are using them without proper studies of all references used. In the case, each reference should be justified by it is used and at least short assessment provided.
4. In the Introduction part must be included more information about nitrate, nitrate–nitrogen contamination (effects of environmental, environmental and public health problem). The following recommended references could be included in the Introduction part to improve the quality of manuscript, because they provide relevant information:
ü Are the current methods of remediation to reduce nitrate contamination in groundwater in the developing world effective? A systematic review. Plymouth Stud. Sci. 2014, 7, 118–150
ü Nitrates Removal from Simulated Groundwater Using Nano Zerovalent Iron Supported by Polystyrenic Gel. Polymers 2023, 15(1), 61
ü Biological nitrate removal processes from drinking water supply—A review. J. Environ. Health Sci. Eng. 2013, 11, 35
ü Nitrate removal from aqueous solutions by Al2O3 ultrafiltration membranes. Heliyon 2018, 4, e00498
5. For all parameters used in the equations indicate what represent
6. For all abbreviations or notation indicate the complete name
7. For unit of measure used the S.I., please check in all manuscript.
8. For all operational conditions must be indicated, amount, concentration, time, speed rotation
9. For all reagents or chemicals used must be indicated manufacturer, purity, concentration, amount
10. All equipment and tools used in this study should be described in detail or further information should be provided (manufacturer, type, operational conditions, etc.)
11. More information about used water sample must be indicated, example location, area, sampling time, period, season, how was it collected, stored, what happened to the water samples after testing?, also, indicate the name of river
12. For electrodes size 14x5x8 mm, must be corrected with 14 mm x 5 mm x 8 mm, or indicate correct unit of measure
13. At NaCl and CaCl2 solutions μ, 0.7 M, what means μ?
14. In Table 1, for all element, indicate ionic valence, example Cu replace with Cu2+
15. At all figure, at axes indicate the line for divisions, use the options “Tick Marks”
16. At Figure 2, indicate the value of nitrate formation for each column, and use the option “subscript” to write the impurities/elements (example, correct Na2CO3 with Na2CO3). Also, check and correct all value in the manuscript, for all figures.
17. For all value indicate between value x or point, example for 1.6 10-5 M H2O2 formation, indicate for example 1.6 x10-5 M or 1.6 . 10-5 M, check and correct all value in the manuscript
18. Reactions for nitrate reduction, nitrate and/or nitric acid formation, must be indicated
19. Comparison between the obtained results and measured in this study with other reported studies should be done and included for more clarity (indicate values not just number of reference).
20. Other more potential application of the system used, different water and wastewater, must be indicated in the Conclusion part
21. “Challenges or Future Prospective” must be included
Author Response
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to revise and resubmit our article. Thank you for your feedback and valuable comments on this occasion.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
Review for the paper "Nitrate and/or Nitric Acid formation in the presence of different radical scavengers during ozonation of the water samples; Are scavengers effective?" by Ulker D. Keris-Sen and Taner Yonar submitted to "Water".
General comment.
The authors studied the effectiveness of different types of radicals to trigger formation of nitrogen compounds when water is exposed to ozone. They showed a high ability of OH‾ and Cl‾ ions to increase the decomposition of ozone leading to the formation of NO3 and/or HNO3. They detected the maximum nitrate formation in tap water with low scavenger content, while an opposite pattern was found for ultrapure water without scavengers. The study may be useful for water quality control and may be of interest to engineers involved in tap water pretreatment and wastewater treatment. The experimental work has been carried out according to standard procedures. The main results are presented in a clear manner, so that figures and tables provide a good presentation of the data. However, a lack of statistical treatment of the data prevents me from recommending acceptance of the paper in its present form.
Major concerns.
- The authors must perform appropriate statistical processing of the data. In particular, I suggest comparing results for different conditions using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test. Compare tap water and surface water, as well as different phases of each experiment (at the beginning and at the end of the experiment).
-Relationships between variables should be explored using correlation or regression analysis (results in Figs. 3, 4)
Specific remarks.
L15. Consider replacing " radicals by carbonate ion " with " radicals was unaffected by carbonate ion ".
L30. I think the term 'species' is an inappropriate definition. It may be better to use the term 'compound' here and further down in the text.
L46. Consider replacing " are defined " with " are determined ".
L106. Consider replacing " wholly " with " fully ".
L305. Consider replacing " 364 +5.2 " with " 364 ±5.2".
L123. Identify the location of the river. Provide coordinates, time, and method of surface water sampling.
Conclusion. Include a section on the applicability of your findings to various human activities and industries.
Author Response
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to revise and resubmit our article. Thank you for your feedback and valuable comments on this occasion.
Your recommendations and our responses to them are given below,
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Accept
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors have revised the paper accroding to my comments.
