It is the intakes in the footwell area that had so much material stuck in them. Well actually, just one of them. It was alot. To be honest, it just grossed me out. I had the same thought about the stuff floating in the water. I thought maybe I could use a net to scoop it out. I'd rather not have to pull it out of the intake they way I did this water change. It wasn't just on the cover, it was strings that went inside. I think it's only an issue if I have people in the spa, so I thought about slipping the nylon over it when we had company.