Hi Shonda. My wife and I discussed the deep end. I wanted 5' so no matter what, I could stand anywhere in the pool to save a foundering little one without having to swim myself. My wife wanted 6 feet. So we compromised on 6 feet. She has since changed her mind. Too late. Our pool is 39 feet long including the sun shelf, and the shallow end is 3.5 feet, so the slope down to six feet is pretty steep. Another thing we almost agree on now is that the sun shelf for us was a waste. Steps the full width of the shallow end of the pool would be more useful for us. Steps give people of different heights the ability to sit in the pool. We also have an inline chlorinator using 3' tabs. We don't use it. Liquid chlorine added by hand is what I do. At some point I may consider a salt chlorinator, but we'll never use the inline tablet chlorinator--it is a problem for cyanuric acid build up (read the pool school stuff for why.) Heater. If you have natural gas at your house, you might consider it. We've mostly used ours for the spa in winter, but we also used it in October, April, and May for the pool. We're also in Texas, a bit farther south than you in Katy (just west of Houston on I10.) You aren't putting in a spa. We used ours maybe six times over the winter.
Pool cleaner. Our pool builder put in a booster pump for a "pressure side" pool cleaner. Pentair Racer. Problems getting stuck on its side. Replaced with a Pentair Kreepy Krauly, which was a little better until it decided not to bother with the shallow end of the pool. Also, it never picked up very much. Now we're using a Maytronics robotic cleaner. You can research these for yourself at your convenience, since it does not require any pool or pump features--just an electric outlet. A self contained robotic cleaner does not use your pool filter pump or a booster, so the pump doesn't even have to be running. Our Maytronics M-500 has three brushes, cleans the sides including the waterline, and it picks up more grit, grime and other Texas stuff in one 3.5 hour session than the Kreepy Krauly did in a week running three hours every day.
Ozone and UV-C. They do work, but as a supplement to chlorine for bacteria and viruses, not a replacement, and definitely not a replacement for chlorine in preventing algae.
Finally, take advantage of the power savings of your VS pump. Remember at 1/2 speed, it uses 1/8 as much electricity, so you can run it twice as long and still use only 1/4 the juice. Also look into skimmer socks (or less expensive hair nets from Amazon) for your skimmer baskets. They catch a LOT of stuff that otherwise ends up on your main filter, making it less efficient and requiring more frequent cleaning.
During our construction, I was at home, and every day went through the trash pile retrieving equipment manuals and extra parts. I also scavenged leftover stones from the coping job. I broke them up into stepping stones to get from the decking to the equipment pad around the side of the house. I was also here when the many City of Katy inspections took place, so I was able to tell that there were no shortcuts taken by my pool builder--as least as far as the inspectors thought. Apparently the permitting and inspection process in Katy is extensive, expensive, and tedious. In fact, the company that came out to look at an equipment warranty item, is located in the City of Katy, but they don't build pools here. They build in Houston and in Harris, Ft. Bend, and Waller counties outside Katy, but not in the city.
Good luck, and be sure to read the pool school and get the TFP-100 test kit.
