The simple linear regression was used to determine whether statistically significant associations existed between the bacterial counts of the coolers water (non-carbonated and carbonated) and the time since the last filter was substituted. Statistical significance was assessed

using two-sided tests with p-values of ≤ 0.05. Analyses were performed using the statistical package Stata [15]. Results Of the 41 randomly selected commercial stores, 38 agreed to participate for a response rate of 94.7%. The time since the last maintenance of water coolers, selleck inhibitor comprehensive of filter substitution, in the participating stores ranged between 1 and 24 months. A description of the data regarding microbiological characteristics of drinking water dispensed by the sampled water from coolers 4SC-202 cell line and tap according to the Italian legislation is provided in Additional file 1. It should be noted that Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli were not detected in any of the

water samples. In 17% of the samples of tap water after incubation at 22°C and 37°C the number of aerobic bacteria was higher than the stated drinking water limits for TVC of < 100 CFU/mL and < 20 CFU/mL, respectively. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found in only one sample of the tap water and in 28.9% and 23.7% of the non-carbonated and carbonated water samples, respectively. The microbiological results for the water coolers indicated that the total bacteria counts at 22°C and 37°C was higher than the required values in 71% and 81% for the non-carbonated water and in 86% and 88% for the carbonated one, respectively. The overall mean bacteria counts at 22°C and 37°C in the water samples were Selleck HM781-36B respectively 102.9 CFU/mL and 86.3 CFU/mL for the tap, 569.7 CFU/mL and 331.8 CFU/mL for the non-carbonated, and 542.1 CFU/mL and 355.9 CFU/mL for the 4-Aminobutyrate aminotransferase carbonated. The results of the statistical analysis conducted to determine whether differences exist among the three different types of water with regard to microbial measures showed no significant difference between

the number of microorganisms recovered from the non-carbonated and carbonated water from coolers for the bacteria count at 22°C (χ2 = 2.55, p = 0.18) and at 37°C (χ2 = 0.82, p = 0.55), and for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (χ2 = 0.26, p = 0.8), respectively. The tap water was always of excellent bacteriological quality and it was superior than the water from coolers. Indeed, a statistically significant higher proportion of positive microbial counts has been recorded for both bacterial counts at 22°C and 37°C in the non-carbonated (χ2 = 25.55, p < 0.0001; χ2 = 34.73, p < 0.0001) and carbonated (χ2 = 40.07, p < 0.0001; χ2 = 42.95, p < 0.0001) waters compared with the tap water. The number of positive samples for Pseudomonas aeruginosa was significantly higher in the non-carbonated (Fisher’s exact test p = 0.003) and carbonated (Fisher’s exact test p = 0.015) water coolers samples compared with the samples of tap water.