The lake is the newest part of Männiku Quarry, replacing what was still a landfill seven years ago. After excavating and clearing the site, Saku Municipality asked TREV2 to create a public beach along the lakefront.

"The beach was built with a very gentle slope," said TREV2 mining engineer Paul Toomik, adding that around ten meters from the shoreline, the water is still only one meter deep. "That makes for a large area where kids can swim."

While the sand quarry may still look a little bleak for now, Toomik said it should become more attractive as the newly planted pine trees along the lake continue to grow. Access is also expected to improve after a neighboring quarry wraps up operations next year.

TREV2 has dubbed the new body of water Toomiku Lake, after the engineer himself who has worked at the quarry throughout its development.

Whether that name will become official is up to Saku Municipality and the Land and Spatial Development Board. The municipality said it will consider it once a formal application is submitted.

Name may be fitting

Annika Lebert, a chief specialist at the Land and Spatial Development Board, said the lake's name must comply with Estonia's Place Names Act and language requirements, and should have a connection to the location.

"We have no objections to it as such," Lebert said. "Toomiku is a nice Estonian name, and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about it."

Old maps show that the site was little more than sand and open fields a century ago. The nearby Tooma tee, however, already bears a similar name.

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