ROGERS, Minn. — It's not every day you find something special in the sewage.
John Tierney is the mechanical maintenance manager for The Metropolitan Council's nine wastewater treatment plants.
"You see chip bags, orange peels," said Tierney, as he looked over a large bin containing everything people have flushed but shouldn't.
In March, he was working on a piece of equipment inside the Rogers Wastewater Treatment Plant that shifts through the sewage, to take out anything that hasn't disintegrated.
He and a few coworkers were shoveling debris from the equipment when Tierney saw something sparkle.
"In one of the shovel loads, we found this diamond ring," he said.
Tierney didn't go into detail on what the ring looked like because he wants the rightful owner to describe it and prove it's theirs.
"The design is very unique," said Tierney. "So I think anybody who lost it would be able to describe it identically to the way it looks."
Tierney said there are a hundred different scenarios for how the ring could have made its way to the plant, especially since anything that drains or flushes makes its way to the plants.
"Maybe just an accident," he said. "The sizing was wrong, it just happened to fall off. Or maybe out of anger, I don't know."
Tierney believes that it was found in the northwest corner of the metro closer to the Rogers Plant.
What he doesn't know, is how long the ring has been in the pipes.
"The plant has been in service since the '60s," he said. "I cannot tell if it's been there since then or a week ago."
Tierney hopes that they can find the owner of the ring, but just as much, he hopes people will be mindful of what is sent to sewage. He said that tons of trash and other materials are flushed down the drain and cause issues for him, his team, and the environment.
"It breaks my heart," he said. "I wish folks knew what happens when they flush the toilet."
If you think the diamond ring could be yours, reach out to the Metropolitan Council via email at MCES-Inquiries@metc.state.mn.us or call 651-602-1269.
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