PONE-D-23-39260Geospatial Interpolation and Hydro-geochemical Characterization of Physicochemical Parameters in Unconfined Alluvial Aquifers of the Thal Desert, Punjab, PakistanPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Ehsan,

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Venkatramanan Senapathi, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

The study on the hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater in the southern part of Thal Desert of Pakistan appears to be thorough in its analysis, but its findings are disheartening. The extensive contamination sources, including mineral infiltration, domestic waste, and industrial effluents, paint a grim picture of the groundwater quality. The prevalence of salinity and the identified factors contributing to elevated levels of various ions indicate a concerning degradation of the water. The utilization of visual aids and indices may add a layer of complexity, but the overall revelation that 52.5% of the samples exhibit poor to unsuitable quality is alarming. The study underscores significant challenges in maintaining water quality in the region, leaving little room for optimism.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: To,

Editor

Journal of PLOS ONE

Subject:-Geospatial Interpolation and Hydro-geochemical Characterization of Physicochemical Parameters in Unconfined Alluvial Aquifers of the Thal Desert, Punjab, Pakistan, PONE-D-23-39260

Dear Sir,

I am submitting the following for the consideration,

1.Title may reduced as if possible.

2. L226 suspects high amount of turbidity in groundwater, mostly it may be within limits.

3. The complete physical chemical parameters of each sample, please indicated in separate table.

4. L141 incubation temperature may conformed, coliforms, ecoli were not discussed.

5. The results and discussion that did not referenced and studies may find correlation with global or local studies.

6. The figures are of poor resolution 300dpi.

7. The temporal and spatial an objective, that may explained well with the references.

8. The samples may classified as geogenic and anthropogenic.

Reviewer #2: I have following observations and suggestions

Hydrogeology of the area should be provided in detail

How the analytical quality maintained and validated

The discussion part is very poor, need to discuss results in detail with causes and effects. It is not clear from where the contaminants are added to groundwater

There are very few cited papers on the hydrogeology of Indus basin and groundwater status of the area, consult following articles and cite

MacAllister, et al 2022. A century of groundwater accumulation in Pakistan and northwest India. Nature Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00926-1

Bonsor et al 2017. Hydrogeological typologies of the Indo-Gangetic basin alluvial aquifer, South Asia. Hydrogeology Journal. 25(5): 1377-1406 DOI: 10.1007/s10040-017-1550-z

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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PONE-D-23-39260R1Geospatial interpolation and hydro-geochemical characterization of alluvial aquifers in the Thal Desert, Punjab, PakistanPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Ehsan,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Mar 29 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Venkatramanan Senapathi, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: To,

Editor

Journal of PLOS ONE

Subject:-Geospatial interpolation and hydro-geochemical characterization of alluvial aquifers in the Thal Desert, Punjab, Pakistan. PONE-D-23-39260R1

Dear Sir,

I am submitting the following for the consideration;

1. The manuscript did not explained well and short.

2. The table of physicochemical parameters of all 40 samples may also provided with sampling names and GIS locations.

3. Introduction was short with less relevant information.

4. The samples may explained with respect to spatial variation and hierarchal analysis.

5. The microbial count may explained in groundwater as indicated Line 284, this may added as separate section.

6. The water dependency of total population and houses on each sample may also explained and may present in table.

7. The ion balance error may also explained.

8. Point 2 not acceptable as high turbidity of most handpumps.

9. Point 5 did not responded by addition of references of relevant studies from local or abroad. Although literature present for water quality of Muzaffargarh that did not included here.

10. Point 6 the resolution may improve if possible.

11. Kindly explain the purpose of using following diagrams Durov, and Gibbs diagrams, scatter plots, stiff and Schoeller.

12. Please correct in conclusion, the arsenic remains lower mostly; but here it indicated higher than magnesium and potassium.

13. The results were not compared with the local studies or international.,

14. It may also added the literature, similar from deserts for the present data for its comparisons.

15. The figures presented that were not clear, particularly figure 2.

16. SAR for agriculture may also explained.

17. The experimental may explained well i.e microbiol analysis.

18. The samples may explained on basis with cluster depending on depth, direction, desert or non desert etc, principal analysis may also applicable.

19. The Pearson correlation did not explained.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Taj Muhammad Jahangir

Reviewer #2: No

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[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

PONE-D-23-39260R2Geospatial interpolation and hydro-geochemical characterization of alluvial aquifers in the Thal Desert, Punjab, PakistanPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Ehsan,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

This study on groundwater hydrogeochemistry in the southern Thal Desert of Pakistan offers valuable insights, yet it could benefit from minor improvements. While the study effectively aims to identify contamination sources and assess their impact on groundwater and the ecosystem, there's room for clearer quantification of pollutant levels from identified sources. Additionally, the explanation of weathering processes and ion exchange effects could be more detailed. Providing more context for the results within existing literature would enhance the study's significance. Furthermore, the relatively small sample size might limit the generalizability of the findings, and the focus solely on certain groundwater sources may overlook other potential contributors to contamination. Lastly, while the study categorizes water quality, it lacks detailed justification for the chosen thresholds. Addressing these minor issues would strengthen the study's overall impact and relevance.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Jun 13 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols.

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Venkatramanan Senapathi, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments:

This study on groundwater hydrogeochemistry in the southern Thal Desert of Pakistan offers valuable insights, yet it could benefit from minor improvements. While the study effectively aims to identify contamination sources and assess their impact on groundwater and the ecosystem, there's room for clearer quantification of pollutant levels from identified sources. Additionally, the explanation of weathering processes and ion exchange effects could be more detailed. Providing more context for the results within existing literature would enhance the study's significance. Furthermore, the relatively small sample size might limit the generalizability of the findings, and the focus solely on certain groundwater sources may overlook other potential contributors to contamination. Lastly, while the study categorizes water quality, it lacks detailed justification for the chosen thresholds. Addressing these minor issues would strengthen the study's overall impact and relevance.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: No

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: No

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: To,

Editor

PLOS ONE

Subject:- Geospatial interpolation and hydro-geochemical characterization of alluvial aquifers in the Thal Desert, Punjab, Pakistan. PONE-D-23-39260R2

Dear Sir,

I submit the following my comments a review for the consideration.

1. The manuscript is still short with less discussions and needs improvements and corrections throughout manuscript.

2. The TDS may derived from electrical Conductivity by multiply the 0.64 on standard temperature.

3. Abnormally in many cases the Mg almost equal to Ca.

4. The turbidity as WHO guidelines not acceptable >5 NTU for waters. The closed unhindered systems lake in groundwater the turbidity are questionable, standard methods and sampling are highly desirable for the publications.

5. The microbiology in groundwater may questionable and explained the reasons.

6. How the TDS upto 500mg/l indicated the taste of water unpleasant.

7. The points 1 and 4 as the spatial variations that did not well explained.

8. The points 6,7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 18 did not well explained.

9. The figures did not yet improved.

10. The results discussion were not compared with local and the world studies.

11. The general order of As (as this was ppb level) that did not corrected in conclusion.

12. The recommendations may reduced with importance of present work.

13. The samples may discussed with each other, rather in groups.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

Geospatial interpolation and hydro-geochemical characterization of alluvial aquifers in the Thal Desert, Punjab, Pakistan

PONE-D-23-39260R3

Dear Dr. Ehsan,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Venkatramanan Senapathi, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Based on the reviewer's comments, the authors have thoroughly revised the manuscript. The revisions address the concerns and suggestions provided, enhancing the reliability With these improvements, the manuscript is now suitable for publication.

Reviewers' comments: