Paddling pool pump

[MavisMonkey]

I really don't understand how to use paddling pool pumps which I know sounds ridiculous but I need some MNers to explain them to me.
We have a big paddling pool that I've had water in for the past four weeks. I'm keeping the water from going cloudy / murky with a pool chemical kit but there is just so much dirt that I think I really need a filter pump.
My questions are- how long do you have to run the pump for, how often do you run it for and am I right in assuming that you run an extension lead from the house to plug it into? From what I've read on google it seems that you have to run it for around four hours every day- this seems massively excessive to me?! Not sure I cba with it if that's the case!

How big is the pool? Ours is big and we have a sand filter and run it about 8 hours a day when we're using the pool a lot.
You will have to replace the filter insert in yours every so often I think.

We have the Bestway 10ft fast set pool with a filter. We put the filter on for 4 hours minimum. We use multifunction chlorine tablets and sweep the bottom of the pool most days and fish out as many leaves and flies as I can daily. Buy yourself a decent pool net and brush that way you may be able to get away from buying a filter.

And yes, you will need electricity. We run ours from the garage and bought a waterproof box to keep the plugs in.

Thanks all. The pool is rectangular- it's 2.6m x 1.6m so the smallest steel framed one that you can get. We have a bet and pool brush and it was ok for the first couple of weeks but the last week or so it's a bit grimy. Probably not helped by the fact that the dog has learnt how to jump in.
Hmmm, as suspected the filter seems to be a bit of a faff as we don't have anywhere I can easily run the power from. Might have to just live with emptying it out every 3 weeks or so.

Definitely run a filter or empty it then!