Sanitation workers in California managed a minor miracle and have returned a diamond and sapphire ring to a San Francisco Bay Area family whose 3-year-old son flushed it down the toilet.

Union Sanitary District crews found the ring last week, about a month and a half after it disappeared from Munazzar and Mehvish Tapal's home in Union City.

Speaking to local television network KTVU-TV, Wastewater Collection Supervisor Shawn Nesgis said the ring had traveled about a third of a mile.

It's not a pretty process finding flushed property. Crews flushed the sewer lines and discovered the ring after vacuuming up debris. 

The Tapals say the ring's return was a miracle. Munazzar Tapal estimates the ring has been in his family for 60 years.