Feasibility and Environmental Impact of NOM Reduction by Microfiltration at a Finnish Surface Water Treatment Plant

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The study was aimed to examine the feasibility and environmental impact of combining hollow fibre microfiltration with chemical coagulation for surface water treatment in Finland. The study found that microfiltration was effective in improving both physical and chemical water quality, although its ability to remove natural organic matter was comparable to conventional treatment methods. However, membrane treatment would increase operational costs mainly due to the cost of chemicals used in membrane cleaning. Despite being an energy-intensive process, membrane treatment in Nordic countries has low greenhouse gas emissions, estimated at 16 g CO2-eq./m3 of permeate. Reducing chemical usage and adopting renewable energy sources could potentially lower the overall emissions. Although the manuscript is well-structured, it lacks relevant figures to effectively display the results. Therefore, the authors should consider creating appropriate figures to enhance the presentation of their findings.

Comments:

1.        Research data should be presented in the form of scientific figures, as it is crucial for publication.

2.        To enhance comprehension, it is recommended to include a process diagram in the manuscript.

 

3.        Regarding Table 6, a detailed calculation method for determining GHG emissions should be provided in the method section.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Materials and methods

Line no-85: Please mention the appropriate reference citation.

Line no-152: Please mention the method and equipment used for measuring R2A and AOC.

Line no-176: Please mention the name of the GHG emission considered.

 

Results and discussion

Line no-194: Why authors used SUVA₂₅₄ values instead of UVA₂₅₄? Please mention the appropriate reason.

Line no-202: Please mention the intervals of water sample collection for the analysis of water quality in the method section.

Line no- 344 and 395: Authors are requested to complete the sentences and cite it.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript is now ready for publication.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors,

Thank you for addressing all the previous comments. You guys work hard and inserted a few figures and flow charts. I suggest you delete a few words as mentioned in the comments. Please find the commented file.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx