One of the first thing a traveller notices about Tarantis, particularly if he arrives
in the summer months, is the smell, although some of the local citizens appear to be
oblivious to it. Unlike some other cities Tarantis was laid out with
only one main underground sewer (down the length of King's Row) and the purpose of this was
mainly to prevent flooding. Therefore a small minority of houses in Tarantis have internal
connections to the sewers for purposes of sanitation. A system of 'Night Soil Men' is operated
by the state to take away human waste from outdoor privies but since there is a charge for
this service people are reluctant to use it and in the poorer areas it is not used at all.
Each street is raised in the middle and has two 'drainage channels'
at the side and this is where most human waste ends up. If it rains the contents
of these channels are washed down to towards the sewers but sufficient rainfall only
occurs in the winter months. Although citizens are obliged to keep the channels clear
outside any property they own in practice everyone waits for it to rain before attempting this.
The situation is made worse by the fact that there are no laws restricting the keeping
of animals within the city walls although in recent years a commercial operation collecting
animal dung for fertilizer (and which is also subsidised by the state) has helped matters.
Unsurprisingly there is a greater chance of catching diseases in Tarantis that other
cities with better sewer systems. It has become the habit of some of the nobility to retire
to their estates in high summer.