Water and Energy Efficiency Assessment in Urban Green Spaces

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The subject of the paper is of high interest under the context of the energy and water efficient use. The energy and water management for the public places (parks, gardens etc.) are very important and a methodology to calculate the need of water and to adjust the irrigation in order to save as much as possible.

I have only one question for the authors: In accordance with the data - the manually system (case 2) is more efficient than the smart/automatic system. How they can explain this? If I understand well - case 1 - private garden with automatic smart irrigation system; case 2 - public garden - with manually managed system. According to the proposed model the case 2 is more efficient, on contrary with, at least my expectation.

I am suggesting the authors to explain this and to complete the conclusions with some recommendations for the owners or administrators of gardens.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1

We would like to thank the reviewer for raising this question.

Smart irrigation systems allow a significant improvement of the irrigation efficiency, since these automatically manage the water supply according to the measured meteorological conditions and to the estimated vegetation needs. This is demonstrated with Vale do Lobo (case study 1), in which the irrigation efficiency has increased from 55% in 2017 to 70% in 2019, after the installation of the smart system. However, this system was not as efficient as it could potentially be since, it used a reference meteorological station located in Faro (not a local one) and did not measure the existing humidity in the soil; thus, it could not accurately estimate the vegetation needs. Additionally, the system estimated a single vegetation need and not adjusted it to the type of plant, having still potential for more water savings.

Case study 2 was quite different. Irrigation was carried out based on garden workers empirical knowledge that have become increasingly more aware of the need for water savings and that have taken more efficient practices for irrigating the park, allowing an irrigation efficiency of 78%. Indeed, they manually adjusted the daily irrigation times to the local meteorological conditions and to the soil humidity, achieving a higher efficiency than that of the smart systems.

These two arguments have been better explained in the text and summarised in the conclusions of the paper.

Please see tracked changes in the manuscript.

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors,

The paper is quite interesting as it addresses a topic of particular relevance in the context of climate change in which we currently find ourselves. However, the article should take into account the following aspects in order to be considered for publication in the journal:
- The introduction is rather brief, as well as the bibliography used is scarce. It would be interesting to consider including the concept of green infrastructure in this section to enrich its content.
- The conclusions should include the limitations of the study and future lines of research derived from it.
- Figures should indicate their source.

Author Response

The paper is quite interesting as it addresses a topic of particular relevance in the context of climate change in which we currently find ourselves. However, the article should take into account the following aspects in order to be considered for publication in the journal:
- The introduction is rather brief, as well as the bibliography used is scarce. It would be interesting to consider including the concept of green infrastructure in this section to enrich its content.

Reply | We would like to thank the reviewer for his suggestion. We have introduced the concept of green infrastructure in the introduction of the paper and connected it with the creation of public parks and open spaces in industrialized regions for recreational and ecological purposes. New references have been added. Currently, the paper has 32 references and the introduction covers aspects related to green infrastructures, water efficiency action plans, vegetation water demand and water and energy balance in water supply systems.

- The conclusions should include the limitations of the study and future lines of research derived from it.

Reply | The conclusions have been revised in order to include the limitations of current research and future research.

- Figures should indicate their source.

Reply | All the figures presented in our manuscript have been developed by the authors based on taken photographs, collected data and calculations carried out by the authors.

 

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors,

I have reviewed the revised version of your paper and i have no further comments, in its current state i can accept it for publication.