Hydrogeochemical Characteristics of Bottled Waters Sourced from Bedrock Aquifers in South Korea: Evaluation of Water Type and Natural Background Levels

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The objectives of this study were to identify the water types of South Korean bottled  mineral water, based on the hydrogeochemical properties and evaluate the NBLs of  the predominant groundwater type for major and trace elements

The work represents a valuable contribution to the literature, however, some sections must be improved.  Therefore, I believe the manuscript should be published only after major revision.

 

The main trouble points are:

 

Comments

 

The introduction is the main problem of this work, the authors do not consider much of the modern bibliography on the subject. Some examples are:

Apollaro C., Di Curzio D., Fuoco I., Buccianti A., Dinelli E., Vespasiano G., Castrignanò A., Rusi S., Barca D., Figoli A., Gabriele B., 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, art. no. 150345. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150345

 

Atega, P.L.E., Vinches, M., Casiot, C. and Pistre, S., 2022. Development and implementation of a multi-criteria aggregation operator to estimate the contributions of the natural geochemical background and anthropogenic inputs in groundwater in former mining regions: An application to arsenic and antimony in the Gardon river watershed (southern France). Science of The Total Environment, 814, p.151936.

 

 

 

In figure 1 only 26 wells are indicated, while the authors speak of 37 sampling points

in table 1, the first row should be bold

In the  line 270 the authors say:  Concentration data, excluding pH, were log-transformed for PCA to improve the linear association between variables because the concentrations varied by several orders of magnitude between ions. Why weren't the values normalized?

 

In the  line 291 the authors speak of the origin of arsenic due to the dissolution of pyrite. Also in this case, I recommend reading the following work to better clarify the problems:

Fuoco, I., et al. "Arsenic polluted waters: Application of geochemical modelling as a tool to understand the release and fate of the pollutant in crystalline aquifers." Journal of Environmental Management 301 (2022): 113796.DOI:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113796

 

In the  line 344 the authors speak about the origin of chloride and sulphate in the waters. however, they do not take into account the atmospheric contribution, which in the early stages of water evolution can be significant.

In the  line 365 the authors speak of the origin of fluoride due to the dissolution of biotite or fluorite. Also in this case, I recommend reading the following work to better clarify the problems:

Fuoco, I., Marini, L., De Rosa, R., Figoli, A., Gabriele, B. and Apollaro, C., 2022. Use of reaction path modelling to investigate the evolution of water chemistry in shallow to deep crystalline aquifers with a special focus on fluoride. Science of The Total Environment, p.154566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154566

 

In the  line 486 the authors speak about the BRIDGE project. However, in the bridge project, a subdivision is also made between the redox state of the various aquifers. You never deal with this topic. For what reason?

 

Discussions and conclusions need to be rewritten taking into account previous comments

Recommended works must be added in the bibliography

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript addresses the interesting and relevant subject of determining the NBLs in groundwater across the South Korea. It has a nice presentation, clear to read, and well referenced. Congratulations to the authors. I recommend the paper to be published with considering the following minor modifications.

Line 69: What do you mean by “mean added to 2 times the standard deviation”? Please rewrite.

Lines 119-128: Average depth of 199.5 m means the groundwater wells are deep. This is not consistent with your statement given in Line 121.

Section 3. NBLs vary in time and space. Your study only investigate the spatial distribution of NBLs. Please add this important point to the manuscript.

Lines 151-153: No justification given for selection of trace elements.

Lines 171-172: This statement is speculative. Please add a range for “several order of magnitude”.

Table 3: Are you sure about the unit given for trace elements (µg/L)? Please check (e.g., Fe).

Compare your results with the “Iran’s groundwater hydrochemistry published in Earth and Space Science”.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear Authors,
I found this article interesting, especially for people involved in testing drinking groundwater quality . The hydrogeochemical properties of bottled waters obtained from underground sources were examined . The  water were sourced from bedrock aquifers in various geology and analyzed for 14 physicochemical parameters and 48 trace elements. The monitoring of quality of bootled water is important for health reasons 
The topic  may not be new but the result and observations are useful for the scientific community. However, the materials from the supplement should be an integral part of the article in my opinion - I am asking the authors to think over this proposal. 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

considering the revisions made by the authors, the paper, in my opinion, can be accepted