This is a great question and not always an easy one to answer. All pools are not equal; each swimming pool is a unique vessel. Size, shape, volume, construction type, water source, sanitizer being used, filter type, pump type, distance from swimming pool to equipment pad, amount of use, temperature, and even sunlight play a part in determining the amount of time to run the pump.
The simple formula would be to make sure that you filter all of the water at least once per day.
Most swimming pool pumps move 40 to 60 gallons of water per minute with the average being 50 gpm. Let’s use 50 gpm to figure out at cycle time.
50 gpm X 60 min/hr = 3000 gal/hr If the average pool has 25,000 gallons of water we can see that if we run the pump for 8 hrs per day we will just about turn over all the water.
3000 gal/hr X 8 hr = 24,000 gallons
Therefore, the average swimming pool pump should run for 8 to 10 hours per day.