Cyperus laevigatus L. Enhances Diesel Oil Remediation in Synergism with Bacterial Inoculation in Floating Treatment Wetlands
, Ghulam Shabir 2, Sajid Rashid Ahmad 4, Tahira Yasmeen 1, Muhammad Afzal 2,*, Muhammad Arslan 5, Afzal Hussain 1, Abeer Hashem 6,7, Elsayed Fathi Abd Allah 8, Mohammed Nasser Alyemeni 6 and Parvaiz Ahmad 6,9
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The work presents a very interesting research problem related to remediation of pollutants by a selected macrophyte species. In addition, the authors checked if there is a relationship in the collection of pollutions beetwen using plants and bacterial strains. The thesis has a high application value, however, it contains many errors and needs improvement.
The title of the article contains the wrong species name of the plant under study. The correct name is Cyperus laevigatus L. (source: Plant list). It is suggested to apply analogously to the whole text.
In point 2.9 Statistical analyzes, the authors wrote that all parameters were verified by statistical analyzes using Microsoft Excel software. However, in the article you can not find any statistical tests that are very lacking at work. It is necessary to perform statistical tests in order to determine whether the fluctuations of the variables presented in the resulting part are statistically significant (it is suggested to use basic statistical techniques and calculate p-value and F-value for the examined variables). This is by far the weakest part of the work and needs to be improved.
In Figure 1, 2, 3 and 4 it is sugested to use another unit record, e.g. mg L-1.
Table 1-3 require a more extensive description. The values shown in parentheses are not described - this should be completed.
Due to numerous errors, all linguistic notes were added in the review mode in a separate file. The work needs improvement in terms of editorial and content.
Comments for author File: 
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Author Response
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Reviewer 2 Report
Recently, more and more attention on using floating treatment wetlands for water purification. Diesel pollution is also a big concern, while the use of floating treatment wetlands to treat diesel polluted water is interesting and important. In general, the work is novel and the experiments were designed well, the presentation of results and discussion are well organized. It seems to be suitable for publication in Sustainability. However, they are few points need to be clarified before it can be accepted.
Line 37, “ the efficiency”, which efficiency? Line 39-42, it’s find to provide the treatment efficiency, but I will be better to provide information on the improved percentage between different treatments. The Introduction needs to be rewritten, many close references are missing in this topic and some citation is not appropriate.
For example,
reference 15 is just a report.
The appropriate one is: Constructed wetlands with floating emergent macrophytes: An innovative stormwater treatment technology Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology42(21), pp. 2261-2310
For missing references:
Hydroponic root mats for wastewater treatment—a review. 2016 Environmental Science and Pollution Research23(16), pp. 15911-15928
Comparative evaluation of pilot scale horizontal subsurface-flow constructed wetlands and plant root mats for treating groundwater contaminated with benzene and MTBE. 2012 Journal of Hazardous Materials 209-210, pp. 510-515
Treatment of water contaminated by volatile organic compounds in hydroponic root mats. 2017 Ecological Engineering 98, pp. 339-345
The authors need provide current research status on using floating wetland for diesel related compounds treatment, and also need to highlight the novelty of the current study in a more clearly way.
Materials and methods
It’s better to provide a picture of the experimental setup. The information on diesel oil is not provided in detail, the authors need give the concentration, and also the detail composition of all the compounds. The analysis of hydrocarbons, authors need provide detail analytical procedures, and quality control.Results and discussion
More related discussion is needed in the whole discussion part.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
I accept changes done by the authors. Nevertheless I suggest species latin names to be written in italics.
Reviewer 2 Report
The revised version improved a lot, I have no further comments.
