The George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston is undergoing a major expansion that will significantly increase the size and capacity of one of the nation’s busiest convention destinations. To support commercial kitchen operations throughout the new and existing facilities, NWPX Park supplied a series of GreaseTrooper® Gravity Grease Interceptors designed to provide fats, oils, and grease (FOG) pretreatment.
The multi-phase project will add a new 700,000-square-foot building to the south of the convention center’s existing 1.8-million-square-foot campus. The $1.1 billion Phase I includes construction of a new indoor-outdoor event space, the largest ballroom in Texas, as well as extensive underground utility improvements to support the new development. As part of the campus’ expanded wastewater infrastructure, NWPX Park supplied five GreaseTrooper® Gravity Grease Interceptors ranging from 1,000 to 8,000 gallons, each sized to serve a specific food service operation, including the convention center’s catering kitchens, prep kitchen, a Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen restaurant, retail food outlets, and coffee shop.
Manufactured at NWPX Park’s Houston facility, each GreaseTrooper is constructed of steel-reinforced concrete with factory-assembled internal PVC piping. The larger-capacity interceptors were produced in modular precast components to simplify transportation and installation. The 8,000-gallon GTC8000 consists of a precast base, riser, and top section that stack together in the field to form a complete baffled interceptor, while the 6,000-gallon GTC6000 was manufactured as a two-piece base-and-top assembly.
Three sample wells provide safe and convenient access for routine effluent monitoring, helping facility operators verify compliance with local FOG discharge requirements.
Installation took place alongside active demolition and ongoing construction in one of downtown Houston’s busiest corridors, where coordination and on-time delivery were critical. Pre-assembled internal piping, modular precast construction, and ready-to-install components minimized field assembly, allowing crews from Way Engineering, Ltd. to efficiently place and connect each interceptor while helping keep the project on schedule. When complete, the expanded convention center campus will increase Houston’s convention capacity by more than 60 percent, enabling multiple large-scale events to be hosted simultaneously. Supporting that growth requires wastewater pretreatment infrastructure sized for the convention center’s diverse food service operations. Together, the NWPX grease interceptors provide reliable FOG control for both the existing campus and the new expansion while helping protect the municipal sewer system.
