Our dishwasher drain area (area past the drain cover) looks dirty -- due to past standing water, etc. There is no problem with the draining at this time. The dishwasher drain cover held by screws that don't look easy to remove.

Is it important for the dishwasher drain area to be clean, from a cleanliness point of view? During the cleaning cycles, when cleaning water collects at the bottom of the dishwasher, does it enter the drain area? If my drain area appears dirty, is the cleaning water getting dirtied?

Or, is there a mechanism that separates the cleaning area, from the area behind the dishwasher drain cover. In which case I don't need to be as concerned.

Thanks!

Remove screws and pull out filter and clean it. You need to clean it regularly.