Possible Pollution of Surface Water Bodies with Tequila Vinasses

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Page 1

Abstract: Your abstract needs to be a standout document of your whole investigation. Since you measured several water quality parameters and found alarming values in your samples, you straight away have concluded their associations with tequila vinasses. This is not standard statistical procedure to find association amongst different phenomena. Please undertake statistically significant testing to include highly polluted vinasses samples and exclude unpolluted blank samples whilst measuring these same water quality parameters in these samples. You can also investigate other sites from different land uses other than tequila industries and see how the statistical testing performs. The abstract in its current form is too straightforward for a scientific journal.

Page 4 Line 124-134 section 2.3

Please reconsider your statistical analyses that includes testing to investigate significant association amongst variables. Include uncertainty analyses of measurement as well.

Page 4 line 136 section 3.1

Please correct the section headings spelling

Line 152: pH 5-6.5 are not highly acidic values.

Page 5 line 162-168: Why electrical conductivity (EC) would increase with addition of vinasse? What are the chemical or physical reasons for this?

Page 6 line 185: section 3.2 heading does not look correct. Why is this in-situ again?

Page 6-7: Table 1 and 2: Instead of Tables, please plot these data same as Fig. 3. The Table caption of Table 1 looks incorrect. Is it Atizcoa? Why the standard deviations of the measurements are so high? How many observations per sample were undertaken?

Page 7 line 209-220: What are the sources of fats and oils in your sample?

Page 8 line 227-236: What do the three nitrogen parameters (TKN, nitrite and nitrate) mean in your analyses? What are the significances of these three parameters?

Page 8 Line 268: Why Fig. 4 was included in the main manuscript? Suggesting to remove Fig. 4.

Page 9 Line 271-276: some further data analyses are required to establish how flow rates affect the water quality parameters in your study. Why did you include flow rate in the investigation? Are you intending to investigate any seasonal behaviour of the stream as well?

Page 9 Line 277-291: Conclusions: Your data analyses to support your conclusions are very limited. Further chemometric analyses for source identification, as well as inter-relation amongst your water quality variables, are suggested.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Please take care to correct the typographical errors in the manuscript.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for submitting your research article on the pollution of surface water bodies in relation to tequila vinasse disposal. Upon initial review, a few questions arise to understand further and appreciate the depth and implications of your study:

1. What was the motivation behind selecting the Valles region of Jalisco, Mexico, for this investigation?
2. Regarding the methodology, could you provide more details on how the specific sampling points within the streams were chosen?
3. There's a comprehensive list of physicochemical parameters used to evaluate water quality. Were there any specific reasons for selecting these parameters, especially in the context of tequila vinasse pollution?
4. The findings indicate noticeable changes in pollutant concentrations, particularly in the Atizcoa stream. Are there potential external factors that might have influenced these changes?
5. Reference is made to the Water National Commission criteria for classifying pollution levels. How do these criteria compare to other internationally recognized benchmarks?
6. Are there any previous baseline studies or data from these streams for comparison, given the reported maximum values for COD, BOD5, temperature, and DO?
7. Given the conclusions drawn about the impact of tequila vinasse on the streams, what suggestions or best practices would you recommend for tequila companies to mitigate this impact in the future?

 

I trust these questions will aid in enhancing the clarity and breadth of the article for the broader scientific community.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Authors addressed the concern issues perfectly with a limited number of samples analysis both from field and lab. It would be excellent to incorporate more samples and a spatial interpolation scenerios of the water quality of the rivers due to the tequila vinasses disposal in to the rivers.  Otherwise, they discussed appropriately their findings and draw conclusion. Typos error can be checked.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thanks for addressing my comments

Comments on the Quality of English Language

not applicable